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THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 i-rofessor 
 Benjanin IU Lehman 
 
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A MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 ANNE JEMIMA CLOUGH 
 
A MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 Anne Jemima Clough 
 
 BY HER NIECE 
 
 BLANCHE ATHENA CLOUGH 
 
 LATE PRINCIPAL OF NEWNHAM COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 fathu* Cl*^A 
 
 EDWARD ARNOLD 
 
 LONDON NEW YORK 
 
 37 Bedford Street 70 Fifth Avenue 
 
 1897 
 
Add to lib. 
 
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 PREFACE 
 
 This Memoir was undertaken chiefly in the hope of giving 
 pleasure to Miss Clough's friends. I have also wished to 
 do what I could to preserve a record of her character and 
 her aims, for those who are now or may be in the future 
 connected with the college which she helped to create, 
 and on whose development she exercised so powerful an 
 influence. 
 
 With these objects in view, I have written at greater 
 length, and have entered into more detail with regard to 
 Miss Clough's character and opinions, than would have 
 been natural or justifiable had I been writing mainly for 
 readers who had no special cause to be interested in my 
 subject. 
 
 I have many friends to thank for their help. I owe 
 much to my mother, Mrs. Arthur Clough, who has given 
 me much valuable information and has read all that I 
 have written ; and to Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick and 
 the Miss Kennedys, who have been most kind in helping 
 me with that part of the Memoir which relates to my 
 aunt's life at Cambridge and to the history of Newnham 
 College. I have in addition to thank the following for 
 help on various points, and in some cases for permission 
 to use letters: Mrs. Bacot, Miss Alice Bonham Carter, 
 
 319 
 
vi Preface 
 
 Miss M. A. Bulley, Miss Margaret Calder, Mrs. Conybeare ; 
 Miss Claude, Mrs. Fleming and other friends at Ambleside, 
 and Mrs. Katcliffe of Kendal; Miss Creak, Miss Alice 
 Gardner, Mrs. Alfred Marshall, Mrs. A. W. Verrall, Mrs. 
 James Ward, and many other former students of Newnham 
 College for letters and reminiscences ; and Miss Davies, 
 Miss Mary Gurney, and Mr. Jowitt of Stevenage, for most 
 kindly helping me with information as to certain educa- 
 tional matters. I am anxious also to thank Mrs. F. W. H. 
 Myers for kindly allowing her photograph of Miss Clough 
 to be reproduced to form the frontispiece of the Memoir. 
 
 Finally, I must give quite special thanks to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Francis Darwin, for the help which they have given 
 me unsparingly at every stage of my task, to which help 
 it is due that the result is not far more inadequate than 
 
 it is. 
 
 B. A. CLOUGH. 
 
 August 10, 1897. 
 
 Note. While this book was going through the press, 
 the Bishop of Stepney referred to in the course of the 
 narrative was appointed to the newly created See of 
 Bristol. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PA6K 
 
 Early Tears 1820-1836 ... .1 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 . . . .15 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Life at Liverpool 1844-1852 . . . .48 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Life at Ambleside 1852-1862 . . . .84 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Life at Combe Hurst Educational Work in the North 
 
 1862-1871 103 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Starting of Newnham College . . .147 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Life and Work at Newnham College 1871-1892 . . 192 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 Interests and Occupations outside the College . . 265 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 Later History of Newnham College. Last Years . 310 
 
 vii 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Anne J. Clough (from a Photograph by Mrs. F. W. H. 
 
 Myers) ...... Frontispiece 
 
 Miss Clough (prom the Portrait painted for Newnham 
 
 College by J. J. Shannon, A.K.A.) . . To face p. 108 
 
 Newnham College . . . . To face p. 204 
 
MEMOIE OP ANNE J. CLOUGH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLY YEARS 1820-1836 
 
 Anne Jemima Clough was born in Liverpool on January 
 20, 1820. Her father, James Butler Clough, belonged 
 to Denbighshire, in North Wales ; and her mother was 
 Anne, the daughter of John Perfect, a banker in Ponte- 
 fract, Yorkshire. The Cloughs had been settled in 
 the county of Denbighshire since the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century, but the only member of the family who 
 seems to have made himself known beyond his own neigh- 
 bourhood was Sir Richard Clough, who was the founder 
 of his family's fortunes. Sir Richard Clough was for 
 many years Sir Thomas Gresham's agent in Antwerp, and 
 his trusted helper there and elsewhere in the financial 
 negotiations which Gresham conducted for Queen Elizabeth. 
 After working for Gresham, he was chosen by the English 
 merchants to be deputy or court master of the newly- 
 founded Fellowship of Merchant Adventurers at Hamburg, 
 and died there in 1570. He returned to Wales at inter- 
 vals, and spent part of the large fortune which he had 
 made while in Antwerp in buying lands and building 
 houses in his native county of Denbigh. 
 
 From this time until the end of the eighteenth century 
 
2 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 very little is known of the family. They clung with 
 remarkable persistence to Denbigh and the neighbourhood, 
 and they seem to have lived at ease there on the fortune 
 Sir Richard had left them, to have increased it by some 
 judicious marriages, and to have been well known and 
 much respected in the surrounding country. 
 
 The father of James Butler Clough was Roger Clough, 
 who is described as Vicar of Corwyn, Rector of Llansannen, 
 and Canon of St. Asaph. His elder brother, Richard, 
 was the head of the family, and Richard and Roger married 
 two sisters, Patty and Ann Jemima Butler, the daughters 
 and co-heiresses of James Butler of Worminghurst, in 
 Sussex. The Sussex property was sold, and Roger bought 
 an estate in Wales ; but he very soon lost a large part of 
 his own and his wife's fortune by the failure of a bank in 
 which he was a partner, and had to sell his newly acquired 
 property. 
 
 Roger had thirteen children, of whom James Butler 
 was the third. Two younger sons went into the Church ; 
 one, Charles, became Dean of St. Asaph, and the youngest, 
 Alfred, was a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and Vicar 
 of Braunston, near Rugby. James, with an enterprise 
 unusual in the family, left Wales and went into business 
 as a cotton merchant in Liverpool. He married there in 
 1816, and had four children Charles Butler, born 1817; 
 Arthur Hugh, 1819; Anne Jemima, 1820; and George 
 Augustus, 1821. 
 
 Miss Clough contributed a description of both her 
 parents to the published Memoir of her brother Arthur, 1 
 and she gave a few further particulars concerning them in 
 
 1 The Poems and Prose Remains of Arthur Hugh Clough. Edited by his 
 Wife. 1869. 
 
Early Years 1820-1836 3 
 
 some reminiscences of her childhood which she wrote for 
 her own amusement late in life. Some of their letters 
 have besides been preserved, and from these sources it is 
 possible to form a fairly clear idea of them both. They 
 were both people of character and fine qualities, but 
 remarkably unlike each other. 
 
 Mr. Clough was evidently a particularly amiable and 
 affectionate man, very tender to his wife and children, 
 and his daughter writes that, " though he was sometimes 
 hot-tempered, we were all devoted to him." She speaks of 
 him as " bright and joyous," " fond of society and amuse- 
 ment," and adds that " he liked life and change, and did 
 not care much for reading." He was not well fitted for 
 business, and did not succeed in it. " He had a high sense 
 of honour, but was venturesome and over sanguine," and 
 " not given to counting consequences," and " when he 
 had set his mind upon anything he was not to be turned." 
 
 Of her mother Miss Clough writes : " She was very fond 
 of reading, especially works on religious subjects, poetry 
 and history, and she greatly enjoyed beautiful scenery and 
 visiting places which had any historical associations. She 
 loved what was grand and noble and enterprising. . . . 
 Leonidas at Thermopylae, Epaminondas accepting the 
 lowliest duties and doing them as a duty to his country, 
 the sufferings of the martyrs, and the struggles of the 
 Protestants were among her favourite subjects. There was 
 an enthusiasm about her that took hold of us and made us 
 see vividly the things that she taught us. But with all 
 this love of the terrible and grand, she was altogether a 
 woman, clinging to and leaning on our father. . . . She 
 was truly religious, and early taught us about God and 
 duty> and having such a loving earthly father, it was not 
 
4 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 difficult to look up to a heavenly one." Miss Clough 
 speaks also of her wisdom, which sometimes led her to 
 disapprove of her husband's rash enterprises, and of the 
 " stern integrity which was the foundation of her char- 
 acter." She did not care for general society, and seems 
 not to have been at ease in it, but was homely in her 
 ways and her tastes ; and this homeliness probably pre- 
 vented her remarkable qualities from being recognised 
 beyond a very small circle. She had a few fast friends, to 
 whom she was much attached, and was quite ready to enjoy 
 a little gossip with them, and she liked conversation with 
 anyone who was interested in her favourite subjects. But 
 she was critical and hard to please, and in her letters to 
 her daughter which, from their humour and simplicity, 
 are pleasant reading she laughs unmercifully at the 
 weaknesses of her friends and relations. It was probably 
 owing to this critical disposition, combined perhaps with 
 the indolence which is said to be characteristic of her 
 family, that she took little pains to make acquaintances, 
 and was at all times of her life content to spend much 
 of her time sitting at home with a book. She was 
 affectionate to her children, and seems to have been 
 easy-going and good-humoured with them, letting them 
 take their own way, and helping them in it even while she 
 laughed at their crotchets. 
 
 Mr. Clough was a good-looking man, and had the fair 
 hair and blue eyes which are common in his family. Mrs. 
 Clough was strikingly handsome, tall and dignified, with 
 dark hair and eyes and a delicate complexion. 
 
 In 1822 Mr. Clough left Liverpool and went with all 
 his family to live in Charleston, in South Carolina, where 
 much of his business as a cotton merchant was carried on. 
 
Early Years 1 820-1 836 5 
 
 He made his home there for the next fourteen years, but 
 the time was interrupted by visits to England. Mr. 
 Clough went back to Liverpool every two or three years 
 about his business. The three boys were, one after the 
 other, taken over to school in England, and Mrs. Clough 
 and Anne went back twice to spend the summer with their 
 relations. 
 
 There was much in their life at Charleston which was 
 likely to leave traces upon the mind and character of a 
 child who grew up in it, and before she came back to 
 England, Anne was old enough to feel keenly the influence 
 of her surroundings. She was observant and retentive even 
 then, and the reminiscences which she wrote fifty or sixty 
 years later show how deeply the place and the people and 
 the incidents of this time were impressed upon her mind. 
 
 The children seem to have had a happy time in the 
 early years before the boys were sent away to school. 
 There was an element of picturesqueness in their life, and 
 a good deal to stir their imaginations. Miss Clough 
 describes Charleston, as she knew it, in the reminiscences 
 contributed to her brother's Memoir. It lies on a 
 peninsula between the two rivers, Cooper and Ashley. 
 " The first sight of it showed a long line of wharves made 
 of palmetto logs fastened together into a sort of wall, 
 stretching perhaps half a mile along the bay, and lined 
 with the ships and smaller craft that frequented the port. 
 As you approached from the water, you heard the songs of 
 the negroes at work. Beyond the wharves was a battery 
 or public walk supported against the sea by a substantial, 
 very white wall formed of oyster shells beaten fine and 
 hard. ... It was all roughly done, as most things were in 
 the South, but the sunshine and clear skies made it bright 
 
6 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 and cheerful. The city was not regularly built like the 
 Northern towns. In the lower part, indeed, the houses 
 were mostly built close together in rows, but in the upper 
 part, where the wealthier people lived, it was full of villas, 
 mostly standing in gardens, all built with verandahs, and 
 many with two, one upper and a lower one. In the garden 
 grew many flowering trees, such as the almond, occasionally 
 the orange, and the fringe tree, a gay shrub with a very 
 abundant white flower, and the fig ; and these hung over 
 the garden walls into the streets. The streets, too, which 
 were for the most part unpaved, were often planted with 
 trees for the sake of shade. Here and there one came on 
 a large, old-fashioned mansion that at once showed it 
 belonged to the times before the Eevolution." 
 
 Their home was a large, ugly, red brick house on the 
 East Bay, and from their nursery windows the children 
 could see the ships sailing in and out of the harbour. 
 Their father's office was on a lower storey, and there they 
 played among the heaps of cotton, and saw the captains of 
 the merchant vessels who came in about their business. 
 " Arthur used to do sums in the office, lying on the 
 piled-up pieces of cotton bagging." 
 
 They spent several summers in Sullivan's Island, a few 
 miles from Charleston. They lived at a little-inhabited 
 part of the island, and much enjoyed their freedom. The 
 island was like one great sandbank ; and they could paddle 
 on the fine white sand, and watch the ships and " the 
 innumerable curlews, whose wild screams seemed to make 
 the shore more lonely still " ; and they were much enter- 
 tained by the sight of all their household goods, which 
 were brought over in a sailing-ship from Charleston and 
 deposited on the shore. There were often violent storms, 
 
Early Years 1 820-1 836 7 
 
 sometimes shipwrecks, and once their house was only 
 saved from the waves by a sudden change in the wind. 
 
 They did lessons with their mother, and read history 
 and travels with her : " she taught Us about great men 
 and their noble deeds, and with her we read the Bible." 
 Kollin's Ancient History, Prescott's Conquest of Pent, the 
 Lives of Cortes and Pizarro, and Washington Irving's Life 
 of Columbus were among their favourite books. They read 
 story-books too, and acted them afterwards. 
 
 After the two elder boys had gone to school in 
 England, George and Anne amused themselves by studying 
 the people they saw going about, and especially the children. 
 They watched them at church, and learned to know whole 
 families, and took great fancies to special people, and " we 
 improved our knowledge on Saturdays," when the men 
 drove to market and the children went with them. They 
 had games too, in which the people they knew, and their 
 brothers and cousins in England, were represented by reels 
 of cotton and bricks. 
 
 The Cloughs were too English, their daughter says, to 
 let their children go to school in Charleston, which, she 
 adds, was perhaps a pity ; and they were perhaps too 
 English to mix freely in the life of the place. It was a 
 long time before Mrs. Clough found congenial friends, and 
 she felt the want of them, and did not take kindly to life 
 in Charleston. She did, however, in time, make some 
 very warm friends, who were like sisters to her, her 
 daughter says. There were now and then some English 
 people living in Charleston, and they became acquainted 
 with some of these also ; among them were the Calders 
 and the Bulleys, from Liverpool, who were afterwards very 
 intimate friends of Miss Clough. 
 
8 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Mrs. Clough taught her children to remember that 
 they were English ; and a letter written by Anne to her 
 brother Arthur, when she was fifteen, shows a lively 
 patriotism. She writes to him of a journey down the 
 St. Lawrence to Quebec and Montreal : " Though I could 
 not say ' This is my own, my native land,' still I cannot 
 describe to you how I felt, who, after having been so long 
 in a land which is not British, found myself in a country 
 which was subject to the British flag, and wafted on 
 waters where it alone bore sway." 
 
 But in spite of this feeling for England, she was 
 evidently eager to make friends, and to enter into the life 
 round her, and quite looked upon Charleston as her home. 
 
 The visits to England made an interesting break in 
 their lives, and Anne found much enjoyment in them. It 
 was very delightful to see her brothers again, Arthur 
 especially ; and it was pleasant to stay with uncles and 
 cousins in Yorkshire or in Wales, and to have large 
 gardens to play in and children to play with. It was 
 entertaining, too, to drive across the country from Liver- 
 pool to Pontefract and on to York, where she and Arthur 
 were impressed by their first sight of York Minster. The 
 children particularly enjoyed staying in the funny old 
 vicarage at Mold, with its shining oak floors, with their 
 Uncle Charles, who lived alone, and was very kind, and let 
 them do just as they liked. And the days spent with 
 other relations by the lovely sea near Colwyn Bay were 
 long remembered by Anne and her mother " in the hot 
 July days at Charleston." 
 
 The voyages were very long and tedious, for no 
 steamers came nearer to Charleston than New York, and 
 they crossed always in sailing-ships. On their return, 
 
Early Years 1 820-1 836 9 
 
 after their second visit to England, they had a particularly 
 long and stormy voyage, which lasted fifty-four days. 
 " Once or twice, I remember, my father took me up the 
 companion-way to peep at the great waves which were 
 tossing us up to the heavens and then letting us down into 
 the deep. He was brave and strong through it all, and 
 comforted us, and fed us as best he could, for very little 
 cooking could be done." During the long days which 
 they spent shut up in the cabin, the old nurse who was 
 with them whiled away the time " with a variety of hor- 
 rible stories, some about some of our relations and people 
 that we knew," stories of excitement brought about by 
 religion or other causes, " that showed they had great 
 want of self-control and sense." These things "made a 
 great impression on me, and sowed the first seeds of my 
 great desire to learn to rule myself and manage my mind, 
 and get something to occupy me." 
 
 This old nurse, though devoted, seems to have been 
 one of the chief trials of Anne's childhood, and to have 
 given her the first lesson in forbearance and patience with 
 the failings of others. She writes that, when she was 
 thirteen, " the old nurse was still a great trouble ; but 
 from my earliest days I had studied how to manage her, 
 and though it continued a great worry, I could bear it 
 better. I had learned to be sorry for her, and to under- 
 stand that she must feel the change of our growing up." 
 
 After this last visit to England, in 1831, Anne was 
 alone with her parents, till her eldest brother, Charles, 
 came back, two years later, to join his father in the 
 business. She was lonely without her brothers ; and it 
 was, for various reasons, rather a gloomy time. Much 
 anxiety about business seems to have hung over the family 
 
io Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 during nearly the whole of their stay in Charleston ; and 
 at this time Mr. Clough was away in England for many 
 months, and in his absence Mrs. Clough was particularly 
 low and depressed. " She could not bear my father to 
 leave her, and she hardly ever went out, except to church." 
 Their chief friends were away in the summer, and they 
 spent the long, hot days sitting in the nursery of the old 
 East Bay house, looking out over the bay, and consoling 
 themselves with the Waverley novels. 
 
 Miss Clough writes : " I had far too much time for 
 thinking." " As time went on, I became more and more 
 aware of the evils of slavery the immorality of the men, 
 and the sufferings of the slaves. It was fearfully painful ; 
 and there was a growing religious state of mind which 
 made everything more impressive." As a rule, the slaves 
 in Charleston were kindly treated, but it was known that 
 there was often much cruelty on the plantations. The 
 Cloughs never owned any negroes, but their servants were 
 slaves whom they hired. " One of our women-servants 
 harboured a runaway slave. She was taken up and put 
 into prison, and my father with great difficulty saved her 
 from being flogged. She had, however, to spend a fort- 
 night on the treadmill instead." 
 
 "At this time," that is, about 1832, when she was 
 twelve years old, Miss Clough writes, " religion took a 
 deep hold on my mind." She had spent many weeks 
 when in England with some of her mother's relations 
 who held strong evangelical views. " There I heard much 
 religious discussion, and had much very Low Church 
 doctrine preached to me, and I felt moved and troubled." 
 
 There were camp-meetings in the woods and revivals 
 going on among the negroes, and soon among the whites 
 
Early Years 1 8 20- 1 836 1 1 
 
 also, and there was a new and more sensational preacher 
 at the old church, and all this tended to deepen the im- 
 pression made upon her. About this time, however, both 
 Anne and her mother found some new friends (" and very 
 nice ones too"), and one friendship in particular, with 
 Maria Lance, " gave much brightness to my life. We 
 talked to each other, and we read books together, and 
 told our day-dreams and enjoyed our lives." " I got more 
 among young people, but I was queer and shy, and did 
 not get on well, and was soon put out." 
 
 One of her chief pleasures still was to observe the 
 Charleston people and their ways of life. She spent many 
 hours looking at the children in the garden of a neigh- 
 bouring house. Here in the summer lived a Mr. Alston, 
 a planter, and the head of an old family, with his sons 
 and daughters and their children. " As soon as it was 
 cool enough in the afternoon, the garden was alive with 
 children and their mothers. I could see them playing 
 how I watched them bonnie, sweet - looking girls and 
 boys; I can still see them, with their fair bright -eyed 
 mother and the tall, dark father. Many of these boys fell 
 in the war. I used to watch their names in the paper." 
 
 The old church of St. Michael's was a great centre of 
 interest to her. " It had been built before the Eevolution, 
 and the spire was lofty, and it was like some of the old 
 churches in London. There was a large porch running 
 the whole width of the church. Here the men gathered 
 together about church - time and talked together ; the 
 women and children went in, and the men followed at 
 intervals during the service. There was a gallery round 
 three sides of the church, and the negroes sat in the 
 aisles. Young children came with their mothers and sat 
 
12 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 on stools at the corners of the pews, with books to amuse 
 them, and the mothers and grandmothers often laid the 
 little ones down to sleep. It was a pretty sight, the 
 devout mothers with their little ones, the rather rugged 
 and sallow fine - looking men, and the handsome young 
 boys and girls. . . . There was a true sort of fellowship 
 in our worship. Did we not enter into one another's 
 sorrows and joys ? We were known to each other, and 
 understood what was passing through each other's minds. 
 
 " The good old Bishop Bowen was the clergyman ; he 
 was a learned man, but slow. He was very friendly with 
 my father ; they got on very well together, for was not 
 my father the son of an English clergyman ? By and by 
 a more vehement preacher came, and there was demand 
 for great excitement. The bishop did not like this change, 
 but the people did." 
 
 She goes on to describe some of the Charleston ways. 
 
 " One of the terrible customs of Charleston, I may say 
 of the Southern States, was duelling. Many young men 
 fought, and some were killed. Once three young boys fell 
 in love with a young girl ; she lived away from Charleston, 
 and they settled they would all go and offer themselves to 
 her, and the one who was favoured should fight the others. 
 Happily, their friends discovered the scheme, and the boys, 
 all under sixteen, were brought back, and the young lady 
 was not disturbed. 
 
 " Another and a more agreeable practice in Charleston, 
 was that the young men went about at night serenading 
 their favourite lady friends. A guitar and the voice were 
 the usual instruments, but I have known a piano carried to 
 the house of a great favourite. The love-making was strong 
 and vehement, but after marriage, though there was often 
 
Early Years 1 820-1 836 13 
 
 great affection and tenderness, yet politics, business, and 
 other cares absorbed the men and drew them from home, 
 and the women became engrossed by family cares, their 
 children and their households. But in the evening the 
 friends of the family and young men without homes 
 always found a welcome from these kind, motherly women. 
 The great piazzas in the summer made airy drawing-rooms 
 in the moonlight or starlight, and in the winter there was 
 the fireside, but it was never very cold." 
 
 Her eldest brother's return was a great pleasure to 
 her, and she says, "We were much to each other." The 
 last few years of their stay at Charleston were enlivened 
 also by expeditions to various places with Charles and 
 her parents. They went to see some plantations on the 
 Cooper Kiver, and to Augusta in Georgia, and Columbia, 
 and in 1835 they made a journey to the North. They 
 passed through Eichmond in Virginia, where she remarked 
 that the negroes looked fierce and not so pleasant as those 
 in Charleston, and went on to Washington, Philadelphia, 
 and New York, and then to Montreal and down the St. 
 Lawrence to Quebec. After being so long shut up in hot 
 and dusty Charleston, she was enthusiastic at the sight of 
 rivers and lakes, and mountains and forests, and she re- 
 tained all her life a vivid recollection of the scenes she 
 passed through at this time. In the course of this journey 
 they spent two or three weeks at New York and Saratoga 
 Springs, and here Anne and her brother had an unusu- 
 ally gay and stirring time and made many new friends, 
 and tasted for the first time the excitement of society. 
 She writes that after this journey, " It seemed as if a 
 great change had come over me, through the excitement 
 of so much travelling and change and getting acquainted 
 
1 4 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 with so many new people ; in fact, being grown up. 
 Girls of fifteen married in Charleston, and I was nearly 
 fifteen." 
 
 All their last year in Charleston there was great ex- 
 citement about slavery. While they were away in the 
 North, the post office had been broken into by some of 
 the chief planters and a number of anti-slavery pamphlets 
 had been taken out and burnt. " Severe laws against the 
 negroes had been made. They might no longer be taught 
 to read and write, and if any of them were set at liberty, 
 they had to leave the Southern States and go North or 
 to Africa. The young boys made little regiments among 
 themselves and marched about the streets proclaiming 
 State rights. The question of slavery might not be dis- 
 cussed. Then the Northerners laid heavy taxes on goods 
 from England and Europe, so there was very fierce political 
 discussion and less of the old friendly feeling." 
 
 In the summer of 1836 the Cloughs gave up their 
 home in Charleston and went back to live in England, 
 and though Mr. Clough and two of his sons went back 
 to America several times, neither Mrs. Clough nor her 
 daughter were ever there again. 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 LIFE AT LIVERPOOL 1836-1844 
 
 The Cloughs, on their return to England, settled again in 
 Liverpool, and this place was, for the next sixteen years, 
 Anne's home. 
 
 A private Journal, which she wrote between 1840 and 
 1849, has been preserved, and since it describes very fully 
 her thoughts and feelings and occupations during these 
 years, and throws much light on the development of her 
 character, I propose first to give a general account of the 
 circumstances and events of her life between 1836 and 
 1844, and then to fill in these outlines with extracts from 
 the journal, given in the order in which they occur. 
 
 No letters written by her during this period are forth- 
 coming, but she herself preserved a number of letters from 
 her father and mother, her brothers, and her Charleston 
 friend, Maria Lance, and from these a good deal of 
 additional information can be gathered. 
 
 Anne saw much of her brothers at this time. Charles 
 made occasional journeys to Charleston, but was at home 
 for long intervals. George, at first, lived at home, and 
 went to a day-school, and then he too was taken into the 
 business, and spent part of his time in America. Arthur 
 was at Rugby until 1837, and then at Oxford, first as an 
 undergraduate of Balliol, and then, from 1842 till 1848, 
 as Fellow and Tutor of Oriel. 
 
 15 
 
1 6 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Now that she was within reach of him again, and able 
 to see him not unfrequently, her brother Arthur took an 
 important place in Anne's life. She was fond of all her 
 brothers, and had interests in common with each of them, 
 but for Arthur she had had, since her earliest years, a 
 special affection and admiration. When she came to 
 England for a few months from Charleston, it was Arthur 
 above all that she wanted to see, and on both these visits 
 they were much together, and their walks and talks at 
 this time were long remembered by both of them. They 
 wrote to one another while he was at school, and he dis- 
 cussed large questions with her, such as the advantages 
 and disadvantages of an Established Church, and planned 
 that they should spend their future lives together in some 
 quiet vicarage. 
 
 Now he became her helper in many things, and her 
 most trusted adviser. She looked up to him as better and 
 wiser than herself, and was so anxious for his approval 
 that she was often shy and self-conscious in his company, 
 and was at times disturbed by the fear of not satisfying 
 his critical taste. It was probably under the influence of 
 his ideas that she began to teach and visit among the 
 poor, and he certainly took an interest in all her under- 
 takings of this kind, and occasionally helped her to 
 carry them out. He helped and advised her, too, as 
 to her studies, and kept her constantly provided with 
 books. 
 
 But though he was her chief adviser, and she looked 
 to him as a source of light, and treasured up his words, 
 she did not unfold all her difficulties even to him, they 
 were both probably too reserved for that, and it is clear 
 that from the first she took her own path, and worked 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 836-1 844 1 7 
 
 out her problems for herself, and was independent even 
 of him. 
 
 In some recollections of her brother, written about 
 1865, some years after his death, Miss Clough described 
 him as he was in 1836, when they met again after an 
 interval of five years. He was then in his last year at 
 Eugby, and had just won a scholarship at Balliol. " This 
 was his enthusiastic period, when, with the fervour of 
 youth, he would pour out his soul. Dr. Arnold was his 
 hero, and it was striking to hear him expound his views. 
 His father and mother were not quite pleased, the family 
 being, by inheritance, Tory. They thought often perhaps 
 he ought to have gone to Shrewsbury, but they were 
 patient, and far too proud of him to find much fault, and 
 consoled themselves with the thought that he was young. 
 The young brother and sister listened admiringly ; the boy 
 had set up for a Tory, and would argue in his funny way, 
 but still Arthur's hot eloquence burned into their hearts 
 and left its mark there." 
 
 Soon after she came to live in Liverpool, Anne began 
 to visit and teach the girls at the Welsh National School, 
 which her father had helped to found. This led to other 
 work of the same kind, and to much intercourse with the 
 school children and their parents, and soon became one of 
 the chief interests of her life. Besides teaching in the 
 Welsh school two or three times a week, she taught at a 
 Sunday school, and had a class of older girls at home, to 
 whom, as she said to a friend, she wished " to give a 
 knowledge of the world they lived in." She also visited 
 the parents of many of her scholars and made many 
 friends among them, though this visiting, she says, was 
 always an effort. It is clear from the allusions to this 
 
i8 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 work in her journal that she already showed the readiness 
 to take a keen interest in individuals, and the power of 
 maintaining that interest, which were afterwards among 
 her most noticeable characteristics. But the most remark- 
 able fact about her work among the poor was that her 
 plans were entirely of her own devising, and were carried 
 out with almost no help, and with very little encourage- 
 ment. She seems to have worked on without any guidance 
 from others, and to have invented and put into practice 
 one little scheme after another solely by means of her own 
 ingenuity and zeal and perseverance. 
 
 While she was teaching and visiting the school 
 children and their parents, she was also hard at work 
 at home, learning a variety of subjects, and getting 
 through a good deal of miscellaneous reading. Her 
 comments on books show that now, as at all times, she 
 took a curiously vivid personal interest in all she read. 
 She treated books as part of life, and tried to extract 
 from them, as well as from her own experience, a know- 
 ledge of men and things which might help her in guiding 
 her own conduct. 
 
 She was not without amusements at this time, and 
 took readily such chances as came in her way. She went 
 several times a year to stay with various families of rela- 
 tions in Wales, and took immense delight in the walks 
 and drives there. She took great pleasure in beautiful 
 scenery all her life, and she had a particular fondness for 
 mastering the geography of a country, and liked also 
 to notice and fix in her mind all the details of special 
 scenes. 
 
 These visits were a pleasant change and refreshment 
 to her, and gave her experience of a different kind of life. 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 836-1 844 19 
 
 She usually stayed either with three maiden aunts, with 
 whom lived her cousin Margaret, who was about her own age, 
 and a great friend, or with another aunt, who had married 
 her cousin, Eichard Clough, the head of the family, and 
 lived at a charming place called Min-y-don, near Colwyn 
 Bay. These aunts were well-mannered and accomplished 
 ladies, of considerable character and cleverness, who had 
 spent most of their lives among the clerical and county 
 society of their neighbourhood, and who no doubt thought 
 somewhat highly of themselves and their family. A 
 leading figure in their circle was their widower brother, 
 Charles, the Dean of St. Asaph, an able and thoughtful 
 man, to whom the whole family were much attached. 
 There were also a number of young cousins and connec- 
 tions in the neighbourhood, whose company Anne found 
 pleasant and enlivening. 
 
 While living at Charleston, Anne had heard a great 
 deal about lovers and marriage, and she seems to have 
 been much interested in such matters, and to have pon- 
 dered over them much. At one time she discussed them 
 in letters to her friend, Maria Lance (who married Mr. 
 Bacot soon after the Cloughs left Charleston), and in 
 1838 this friend writes to her: "I think you are the 
 most romantic damsel I ever knew. Here is nearly a 
 whole page of your last letter occupied with the beautiful 
 theory of shutting your affections in an impregnable castle, 
 which, I suppose, is never to be stormed, but to open its 
 gates and surrender at discretion when the right cavalier 
 appears. . . . You have really made me quite curious 
 about yourself, you seem to know so much about the 
 affairs of the heart." 
 
 From other letters of Mrs. Bacot's, it appears that 
 
20 Memoir of Anne J \ C lough 
 
 among the " day-dreams " which they used to talk over, 
 was an ambition of Anne's to distinguish herself by writing, 
 and that she continued to think of it for some years after- 
 wards. It was superseded by other aims and aspirations 
 before long ; but as late as 1863 she used occasionally to 
 try writing verses. 
 
 There is no picture of her at this time. Her eyes 
 must always have been beautiful, and she seems to have 
 been thought nice-looking, but hardly pretty, and she was 
 awkward, and unskilful in her dress. She constantly 
 speaks of herself as rough ; and Mrs. Bacot writes to her 
 in 1836: "I will proceed to answer your question as to 
 my opinion of your gentleness. I must say that I am 
 nearly of Arthur's way of thinking, for you are certainly 
 more gentle in spirit than in manner." She also accuses 
 herself of being overbearing : and, no doubt, she was full 
 of her own ideas, and eager to have her own way ; but, 
 on the other hand, her father writes of her as " ever 
 thoughtful and kind." 
 
 In 1841 a series of misfortunes began for the Cloughs 
 with Mr. Clough's failure in business. For some time the 
 family were in great difficulties, and had to apply to their 
 relations for help. Arthur came home for the summer 
 vacation, and, by Dr. Arnold's help, got a number of 
 pupils, in spite of his second-class in the schools, which 
 had grievously disappointed his friends, and he helped 
 them generously. They moved into a smaller house, and 
 Anne and her mother did much of the household work ; 
 but Anne also set her mind on earning money to pay off 
 what had been lent by their friends, and pressed for leave 
 to keep a small school. None of her family liked this, 
 apparently even Arthur doubted her ability to do it ; but 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 21 
 
 she got her way in the end, and in time found three or 
 four pupils, and with them started a small class, which she 
 kept on for about four years. 
 
 Mr. Clough and George went back to Charleston, and 
 their affairs began to mend ; but in 1843, after Mr. Clough 
 had been in England again for a few months, and while he 
 was on his way out again, George died of yellow fever in 
 Charleston. This was a great grief to them all, and fell 
 especially heavily on Mr. Clough, for George had been 
 for the last year or two his companion in America, and 
 his partner and chief help in the business. He seems, 
 indeed, to have been the only one of the family who had 
 any talent for business, and his death, therefore, probably 
 removed the only chance they had of restoring their 
 fortunes. 
 
 The next summer, Mr. Clough came back from 
 America much out of health, and after a few months of 
 illness, during which Arthur and Anne helped to nurse 
 him, he died in October 1844. 
 
 Many years afterwards, his daughter wrote, with 
 reference to her brother's poem, " Jacob " : "I could 
 believe it to be written as a sort of remembrance of his 
 father: of the struggles and trials of a mercantile life, 
 the hard battle that a real gentleman and a Christian 
 man, with an affectionate, honourable, and too yielding 
 character, had had with life. Too sanguine, too venture- 
 some and adventurous, with a bit of romance which gave 
 a sort of charm to some of his mercantile adventures, he 
 was not successful, and made mistakes that brought much 
 trouble, especially in his later years. And so, half-wearied 
 and worn out with the struggle and the sorrow about his 
 son's death, he faded away, . . . and so his sun set." 
 
2 2 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 The Journal proper begins only in 1840, but it is 
 preceded by some notes recording some of Anne's dealings 
 with the school-children before this time. 
 
 " Began to attend the Welsh school in February 
 1837. . . . Began to visit the parents a little the next 
 summer, because I heard the Miss P.'s say they did. 
 Dislike it very much. ... At Christmas go round among 
 my scholars with Arthur, and give them [presents]. 
 
 "1838. Get more interested in the school, and not 
 so afraid of visiting the parents. . . . Arthur goes with 
 me to visit the parents in the summer holidays. In the 
 children's holidays had my first tea-party of scholars ; 
 managed it very well. 
 
 " 1839. Now get completely into the school. Begin 
 to lend books, and visit generally. Get acquainted with 
 almost all the children. Told Arthur in a letter from 
 Yorkshire I knew and visited a great many parents ; 
 found I was rather mistaken, so when I came back I made 
 more acquaintances. Lending books makes me a favourite, 
 and gets me acquainted with the children. Don't manage 
 my Sunday class so well ; get very much bothered about 
 it. Have geography class on Saturday. Get very much 
 interested in the infant school a grand examination at 
 Christmas, giving rewards. The children know me, and 
 speak my name. This was delicious to me, and more 
 worth than a thousand praises. This was one of my 
 grandest days ; it was almost too much for me. 
 
 "1840, May. One- third of the year is gone. I must 
 try to spend the next better. I have got a great deal 
 of indolence to conquer, vacancy of mind, bad thoughts 
 of various kinds, thinking too much of myself and all I 
 do, and of the faults and failings of others. ... To be 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 23 
 
 attentive to mother, and get over my great cowardice, fear 
 of people's opinion. I must not mind being thought ill of. 
 I am still very much given to stopping after I have gone 
 on a little while in the right way, so I am continually 
 losing all I gain. That is a bad habit ; I must get over it. 
 In short, I must use exertion in everything, and always 
 remember that my chief pleasures must not be here. This 
 is not our rest. I must not seek only my own enjoyment 
 and amusement as the main thing ; I must rather seek to 
 prepare myself for the inheritance of the kingdom of 
 heaven which Christ has purchased for us. Lord God, 
 hear the prayer of Thy servant, who desires with all her 
 heart to do Thy holy will ! . . . 
 
 " This month I want to do over one book of Euclid, 
 as far as the 80th page in the Greek grammar, translate 
 book ii. of Virgil from the German, read 2nd and 3rd 
 volumes of Milman's History of the Jews, Milton over 
 again, and the second volume of Wordsworth. Working 
 hard at these things may perhaps be of no particular 
 use to me so far as knowing these things goes, but I may 
 at least hope to acquire industrious habits and strength of 
 mind, which I lack terribly. I am very much wanting in 
 the power of expressing myself clearly about anything. I 
 might improve myself, perhaps, in this particular by telling 
 the children stories and writing definitions of words. 
 
 "Up \ to 6, Euclid and Greek ; German, off to 
 school 9 J ; visits at the schools ; want of exertion and too 
 cross. 
 
 " Up at 6 not early enough. Euclid and German ; 
 not time for Arnold's Sermons. Very lazy; want of 
 sharpness. Out, two calls. At J. Corrie's, talk about 
 Puseyites, pictures in churches, etc. ; very much provoked. 
 
24 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 Have given way to a good deal of conceit and swaggering 
 feelings and ways. 
 
 " Upon the whole, last was a moderate week ; did 
 my work pretty regularly, though I did not get through 
 all I wanted. The worst thing that has grown in me is a 
 sort of wild, boastful feeling, which would lead me to give 
 way to a great deal of wildness if I had the opportunity 
 and did not try to keep myself in. Yes, I am sure it 
 would lead to a great deal of wickedness. I am getting 
 proud and self-satisfied too. I must work hard to get 
 myself steady again. I must not let my thoughts have too 
 much liberty to run on their own course. I still want 
 quickness in all I do, and constant mental exertion. I let 
 my mind lie vacant for too long, and then it takes some 
 time to get awake again. . . . 
 
 "Last was a moderate week. I have not been 
 very early ; generally about six, but two or three times 
 after. Eather lazy about my prayers ; let my mind get 
 too full of German and other things. Speak rudely often, 
 not so kind and gentle as I should be. . . . My faith has 
 been weak ; I have not kept in mind the end and aim of 
 my course. 
 
 Very much disturbed at night ; strange fears come 
 upon me ; try to quiet myself by saying over psalms and 
 so forth. Get to sleep at last, but I shall be more thankful 
 for good nights in future. 
 
 "All last week in a great fuss. Did little in 
 the reading way ; busy about mourning. Have been 
 wanting in quietness and gentleness ; but I tried not to 
 complain about the work, and so did not mind it so much. 
 Had a great many thoughts in church about a book to be 
 called ' The Happy Court/ if it could be managed, and I was 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 25 
 
 able to do it ; but perhaps it is foolish to think about 
 these things. However, I will do the best I can to improve 
 myself in everything. I will not neglect the grace that is 
 in me. 
 
 " We were reading Mrs. Fletcher's Life yesterday. A 
 strange character, yet she was a good woman too, I dare- 
 say, and meant to do right ; so I think I was wrong to 
 laugh at her. I ought to be very thankful I was saved 
 from becoming fanatical and foolish, for I might have been 
 like her if I had stayed in America and not come to 
 England and been taught better by Arthur. . . . 
 
 " I have been thinking somewhat on death. ... It 
 seems now a much more awful thing to die than I used to 
 think. I don't think I am wrong in disliking death more 
 than I did, for I certainly at present would rather live. It 
 is a punishment for sin, and no punishment can be pleasant. 
 If I might choose, I would ask God to give me a long life, 
 so as I might spend it well. I am determined to do my 
 best. I will not lose my crown. I think very often as 
 I walk about the town that in a hundred years all the 
 people I see will be dead. We must work for the night 
 cometh. 
 
 " I have found it the best plan lately, when we have 
 been so busy, not to allow myself to think things a trouble 
 to me ; I have got on so much better. I think I must 
 keep an exact account of how my time goes ; it certainly 
 often keeps me from wasting it. I learned this plan from 
 reading Wilberforce's life ; it has been of great service to 
 me. . . . 
 
 "June. I sometimes think about marriage. I 
 don't know how I should like it. I believe, in truth, I 
 don't care about it, but I do think of it sometimes, and 
 
26 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 there is a vast deal of nonsense in my heart, too. I like 
 to be admired and well thought of. There are often a 
 great many wrong thoughts in my mind when I am out 
 walking. Talk with C. about Aunt H. I don't know if 
 it is right to talk about her faults, but it is scarcely 
 possible to help it. Last week was certainly spent very 
 badly. . . . Well, we are going away on Tuesday. I 
 must watch myself very close, for fear I get even more 
 wrong. 
 
 " Min-y-don. Go out on the shore, a delightful walk. 
 Feel very happy, many pleasant thoughts. Go up the 
 Smugglers' Valley, down which a pretty stream runs with 
 trees on each side. Two little bridges, cottages, children, 
 other people. Stay a little while to rest in this valley, 
 gather some flowers. I could have stayed there a long 
 time, but it was late. ... I don't know whether I am 
 any better. I have enjoyed walking about very much. I 
 have not been attentive enough to my prayers and reading 
 the Bible and reflections. There has been a great deal 
 of idleness, some conceit and affectation. Yesterday I 
 finished reading the play The Refusal by Colley Cibber. 
 I have been much amused with it. We came over from 
 Plas Onn and dined at Khual Issa, where we met Dora 
 Howard. Some talk about Dr. Arnold; I defended him 
 as well as I could, but I cannot talk much now. I have 
 no words to explain myself or prove anything. We have 
 certainly heard plenty of High Church principles and abuse 
 of dissenters and Low Church people. 
 
 " Liverpool. I am beginning to find myself much less 
 clever than I once considered myself. I find I know very 
 little, and what I do know I don't make enough use of. 
 ... I have got a great many invitations for this summer. 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 836-1 844 27 
 
 I shall be more away than I like, but, at anyrate, I shall 
 see something new. 
 
 " I must be very industrious this week ; I should 
 like to get up at 5, prayers and reading till 6, then 
 Euclid and Greek till 7 J. From 9 till 11 at German, 
 then reading Bible, French, the History of the Jews, with 
 mother till going -out time. In the evening Hallam 
 and poetry. ... I certainly want greater diligence and 
 steadiness in everything. I am fickle and changeable 
 as the wind, but I wish to do right, so I hope in time I 
 shall manage it. 
 
 " July. I have been too fond of counting up all I do 
 and settling it. It is in many respects a bad plan. Do 
 a thing and have done with it. 
 
 "Very much bothered about some of the children, 
 especially Jane Doyle ; I do not see what is to become 
 of her. 
 
 " Get very much vexed about Arthur's not coming 
 home ; it seems unkind of him to stay so long away. 
 . . . Arthur came home in the evening. Saturday morn- 
 ing, getting ready and doing German with him. My 
 displeasure evaporates. 
 
 " Rhual Issa. Enjoy our walks very much, and had 
 some nice talks with Margaret about various things : about 
 women learning Latin and Greek, Euclid, etc. ; the use of 
 learning to women ; also about doing good in the country, 
 factories, etc. She does not approve of Latin and Greek ; 
 in other things we are pretty well agreed. 
 
 " Liverpool I have been very happy, but I am very 
 glad to get home again. . . . There are such lots of nice 
 books of Arthur's about which I should like to read. 
 Eather bothered about the disorder in the school this 
 
2 8 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 week. There ought to be regular punishments. But I 
 dare not speak about these things. I have not courage 
 yet. . . . Eeading Arthur's poem on Brutus, disappointed 
 rather in it ; it is too rough. ... I must not let myself 
 get too much engrossed in these pursuits. I fear I am 
 often wanting in small attentions to mother, and do not 
 like having the children to teach. I must not get lazy 
 in this ; I must beware, or remorse will be troubling me. 
 
 " Sunday. I feel very happy to-day ; it seems quite a 
 refreshing rest to leave my hard books alone. ... I have 
 not worked with such spirit as I did last week. I am 
 getting tired. I sometimes think there is no use bother- 
 ing myself so about learning things. I certainly don't 
 know why I do try to learn so many things, and spend 
 time thus, but I feel a great impulse to do it, therefore I 
 think I must. 
 
 " August. I have been disappointed of getting some 
 walks with Arthur. It seems I am never to have a long 
 talk with him again. ... He has been very good to me 
 this week in helping me to write my notes. . . . Had a 
 walk with Arthur ; he seems very much out of spirits, and 
 fearful about his examination turning out well. He says 
 he has not been well since Easter, but all the time he has 
 been at home he has seldom if ever complained. He has 
 been most especially kind and considerate to everyone, and 
 cheerful too, though sometimes a look of deep distress has 
 passed over him. How patiently he has taught me my 
 German, and how attentive he was to mother when she 
 was ill ! In truth, he has been a bright example to us 
 all. A good deal of thinking about the afternoon school. 
 I should like there to be a good deal of singing and 
 prayers that the children can join in and understand. I 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 29 
 
 should like of all things to go to read prayers. ... I 
 have been full of discontent and unhappiness. One bad 
 thing I have done, I have been reading Byron's Corsair. 
 His poems often hurt me. ... I am bothered a good deal 
 about learning; I don't know whether there is any good 
 seeking after it. I am discouraged about these things. I 
 feel a great want of companions of my own age. . . . 
 
 " I am beginning to grow tired of study. I think I 
 might as well take my pleasure and be lazy if I like. 
 I do nobody any harm, and if I were to be industrious, 
 should I do anyone any good ? In short, I am lazy about 
 everything, visiting the children's parents and my scholars, 
 and having the children at the house. Now it is no use 
 going on in this way any longer. I must make a bold and 
 firm stand against the encroachments of evil. 
 
 " September, Beaumaris. I have not felt so well in 
 mind, so much more tender-hearted and softened for ages 
 as on Sunday. For a long time I have felt like ice at 
 my prayers and everything else, but now my heart has 
 been thawed. I could really believe and feel yesterday 
 that God was my Father. 
 
 " Got ready for the ball, all the girls very kind, . . . 
 very desirous of doing right. Plenty of dancing and fun ; 
 enjoy dancing more than ever I did. Beautiful drive 
 back. . . . Indeed, I believe I managed pretty well at the 
 ball, my thoughts were steady, and I did not talk much 
 nonsense. ... A good deal of talk about Newmanites, 
 Arnold, etc. Dora asks me what I am, a Whig or a 
 Tory ? I say I am nothing ; I have no opinions. Is not 
 this a lie ? The truth was, I believe, I had not courage 
 to speak out boldly what I thought. In short, I am a 
 great liar. 
 
30 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 " Liverpool. I feel a great deal better for my Beaumaris 
 visit. It seems as if the fountain of my affections flows 
 more freely. I can see more goodness in others. There 
 is a feeling of less solitude in me. I am happier for 
 knowing there is so much good in others. But I have 
 missed my young companions a good deal. 
 
 " On Friday afternoon went a-walking with Arthur on 
 the shore as far as Seaforth. Feel very reserved, and 
 cannot talk till towards the end. We talked about women 
 forming opinions, that it is not altogether necessary for 
 everyone to know the reason why he acts thus and thus. 
 It is possible to have the opinion without knowing it or 
 being able to exactly express it. 
 
 " Arthur leaves us in the morning, and the thought of 
 how lonely I shall be when they are all gone comes forcibly 
 upon me. I was indeed quite unhappy and melancholy. 
 
 " October. The school and the children fill my heart 
 and time as much as ever, but I have not begun to visit 
 them regularly. 
 
 " A good deal of proud thought, thinking too highly 
 and too much of myself, my appearance, etc., then while at 
 German my thoughts were distracted a good deal . . . 
 full of love and such things. There would surely be great 
 enjoyment in being in love. These things will rise up. 
 Nonsense ! 
 
 " Many distracting thoughts about the Howards, M.'s 
 wedding, marrying in general. My heart felt quite soft. 
 That it would be pleasant to be in love and marrying, and 
 all that sort of thing, came into my head and unsteadied 
 me. 
 
 " Charles goes away to America. It often comes into 
 my head that I shall like the quietness of being alone 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 31 
 
 without any of the boys, and yet I am half inclined to be 
 angry with myself for thinking so. 
 
 " I am certainly getting thoroughly English. I should 
 not now like our quiet evenings to be disturbed by visitors, 
 indeed, I often fear I am getting selfish. ... I have felt 
 very happy too, sometimes quite an overflow of spirits, 
 particularly when I was walking out by myself to-day. I 
 hope love is growing in my heart, but I do not think 
 enough of my brothers. I did indeed feel to-day a bound- 
 ing happiness, as if I could run and cry out almost from 
 joy. But I ought to work very much harder, and if I dare 
 say so, I will. 
 
 " Have had a great many idle, foolish thoughts about 
 marriage. I cannot always keep myself steady about that. 
 Foolish show-off thoughts will come up and bother me. . . . 
 My mind wants a good steady hard working, it is getting 
 flimsy. That would drive out all this nonsense. 
 
 "November. George leaves us [for America]. Feel 
 rather lost, everything seems so quiet. 
 
 " Just come home from walking in Bold Street. Have 
 been giving way to all sorts of nonsense, proud and swag- 
 gering thoughts, thinking everybody was remarking me. 
 How grand it would be if I could have a season at the 
 Wellington Eoom balls ! I would carry myself very high 
 ... in short, cut a regular flash. . . . But I know better 
 too. This won't do ; all these wild fancies must be quelled, 
 and so they shall, or I am ruined. 
 
 " What has all this wildness come from ? I know at 
 least partly. I have been busy at the school and the 
 children. I have been thinking a good deal about what I 
 have done and am going to do, and that this one thinks 
 well of me and the other. In short, I have grown fear- 
 
3 2 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 fully proud, and my thirst for praise has revived again in 
 full force. Then I have been thinking a good deal about 
 marrying, not so much myself as others. . . . 
 
 " I want deep, steady study, particularly in Euclid ; I 
 always find when I study Euclid my mind is much stronger 
 and better, and I am not troubled with so many idle 
 thoughts and wandering fancies. 
 
 " On Thursday the Buchanans came to ask me to go 
 with them to the Wellington ball, and I went. . . . En- 
 joyed myself very much, and did not feel half so shy as 
 usual. ... I am beginning to think it is well for me that 
 we are not rich. I might then get too fond of gaiety, etc. 
 If I were an heiress like Margaret and in the way of so 
 many balls and amusements, I should have great difficulty 
 to keep right. But one now and then does me good. It 
 is like walking on a dangerous path after one that is per- 
 fectly safe. We do not think about God's protection 
 while we are on the safe one, we run along carelessly, but 
 when we come to the dangerous one, we stop, we walk 
 softly, we look up to heaven. ... So it is with me. 
 When I am going to my schools and visiting my children, 
 I am on the easy, safe path, at least I think so. I do not 
 so often think of God, or fancy I need His protection, my 
 heart often gets cold and careless. Now comes the change. 
 I am asked to a ball, I determine to go. I know now I 
 am going on dangerous ground, I feel afraid I may get 
 wrong, and this makes me seek the guardianship of God. 
 . . . All this does not prevent me from enjoying myself. 
 
 " I come home feeling better, and more lively and 
 cheerful, and if I only take pains to keep my thoughts 
 steady, all goes right. I am refreshed and better able to 
 work. I have been rather neglecting this last part this time. 
 
Life at L ivcrpool 1 8 3 6- 1 844 33 
 
 " Left Liverpool for Mold. A pleasant sail, a beautiful 
 starlight night, enjoyed it very much. 
 
 "Sunday. Heard a beautiful sermon from Uncle 
 Charles on Mai. iii., but do not remember it distinctly. It 
 seemed to make a general impression on my mind, like taking 
 anything strengthening and refreshing to the body, we feel 
 better for it, and yet we know not why or how. ... I 
 have felt very happy, and enjoyed our walks very much, 
 and have felt very desirous of pleasing uncle and aunts in 
 return for their kindness. 
 
 " Some pleasant talks with aunts and M. I don't know 
 whether to call it exactly nonsense. It was about flirting, 
 love-making, etc. I am always afraid of this talk, and yet 
 I love it very much when I venture upon it. 
 
 " Have had a great many lofty thoughts and aspirations 
 in Mold church during my meditations in Welsh sermon 
 time. 
 
 " January 1841. Home. It seems they want me to go 
 out more, but I don't want to do so. I had rather be quiet. 
 
 " Well, I am determined to try and work hard. I don't 
 know exactly whether I will have a plan of operations ; I 
 feel more inclined to act according to my impulses, which 
 I have done considerably lately ; it is much pleasanter, and 
 one does not feel as if one was at task-work. I will not 
 certainly have any plan about the school visiting, visiting 
 the parents, and such matters. It is much the best not to 
 know what one does, because one is so apt to count up all 
 these things and get proud of them. 
 
 " It is best for me to work quietly alone. ... I must 
 endeavour to be more and more retired and secret. I 
 must not even let myself know what I do. I must never 
 be satisfied, but look ahead. 
 3 
 
34 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 " I am full of pride, and am growing very overbearing, 
 . . . and there is fierce indignation in my heart at all the 
 sufferings of the poor, and at the wrongs and oppression 
 too, I may say. Have been scratching a little poetry at 
 night instead of learning my chapter and poetry. I 
 wonder if there is any good in my trying to rhyme. I 
 have a lofty ambition. I sometimes fancy I shall do great 
 things, but will it not all come to nothing ? Yet I should 
 like never to be forgotten, to do something great for my 
 country which would make my name live for ever. But 
 I am only a woman. 
 
 " I feel a good deal the want of conversational powers ; 
 when I go out, I have nothing particular to talk about. I 
 am often stupid. 
 
 " My birthday. Lord, I desire with all my heart and 
 soul to do Thy holy will. I am often tired and weary of 
 working, but I will try never to stop. If it is Thy gracious 
 pleasure, I should desire to be able to do great things ; if 
 not, as it seemeth best unto Thee, God. 
 
 " I believe I am considerably changed in the last year, 
 yet I know not how exactly. I now act very much more 
 from impulse, and I think more quickly. I am much 
 happier in my mind. I seldom if ever feel puzzled what 
 to do when I go out to parties, I am more gay and lively, 
 though sometimes I am very stupid, and in a general way 
 cannot talk well to gentlemen. I cannot talk the common 
 flirting slang or nonsense (not that I suppose all or very 
 many girls do), I do not like to speak about books, and so 
 I seldom find a subject. I still like visiting my poor 
 friends, though sometimes it is a burden to me. I have 
 so many to look after, and it gives me the horrors to go 
 into some of their wretched dens. I would often fain 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 35 
 
 stay at home and read my books. However, duty must 
 then come in and take the command, and I trust I shall 
 never prove rebellious or lazy. Yet I am often comforted 
 and encouraged by many sweet scenes of kindness to each 
 other, family affection, innocent childhood, though I some- 
 times meet with disappointment where I expect most. 
 But upon the whole I think the good predominates ; at 
 least, if it does not, there is a large portion of it. And we 
 must not let wickedness and misery weary us from seeking 
 to promote goodness and happiness. 
 
 " Lately I have taken a great fancy to rhyming, and 
 waste a good deal of time in that way, not that I write much, 
 but I am always trying and beginning a dozen pieces. I 
 am still reserved until the ice is once broken, and then it 
 is almost impossible to stop the stream of my thoughts 
 and feelings and actions being all precipitated from their 
 bed, and I think they rush down with greater violence 
 from the former restraint. But I think I ought rather to 
 cultivate reserve in some things. I am naturally so 
 dotingly fond of praise and of such a boastful, proud turn 
 of mind, it is absolutely necessary for me to be reserved, 
 unless I would become one of those who seek alone the 
 praise of men. 
 
 " Getting anxious about Georgy. I sometimes fear, I 
 have a sort of foreboding of evil, but it is less than it was. 
 
 " One thing I fear in myself, that I may not improbably 
 follow other people's ways more than I ought. Thus, if I 
 cannot find people who will talk as I like, I shall be 
 induced to talk as they like. 
 
 " February. Considerably disturbed with apprehen- 
 sions about poor Georgy. 
 
 " I have got rather gloomy to-day, I cannot exactly 
 
3 6 Mem oir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 say why. I fancy I want companions friends who would 
 really understand what I long after and take an interest 
 in my pursuits ; those who see the duty of working for 
 others, and trying to improve matters, and put a stop to 
 some part at least of the misery, wickedness, and ignorance 
 that surrounds us, who feel that this must be the business 
 of our lives, our everyday employment. . . . But yet I 
 do not know what to do, and my weak heart often recoils 
 from going into many of the scenes of misery about ; it 
 grows lazy in its work, and would fain rest. I do see 
 misery sometimes till I am quite heart-sick. The thoughts 
 of marriage and such things do certainly come very often 
 into my mind now. 
 
 " I have still a great hankering after learning Greek. 
 I might do it if I would only be diligent. I am sorry my 
 poor book is done. I believe there is truth in it. [End 
 of 1st vol. of Journal.] 
 
 " I am beginning a new book. What can I say about 
 myself ? am I changed since I began the last ? Most 
 certainly I am, but how ? Well, what are my present 
 views and aims ? . . . I desire knowledge. I do not think 
 so much for its own sake, but for the sake of exerting my 
 faculties in acquiring it. There is an uneasy restlessness 
 about my mind, and it is only by constant exertion and 
 constant employment it can be in any measure appeased 
 and kept quiet. I love Wordsworth's poetry much, and 
 Cowper's. Milton I have not mastered yet. Shakespeare 
 is beginning to interest me. Othello has taken my fancy 
 amazingly. Well, I think I see more now the misery of a 
 large portion of my countrymen. I see it and feel it. It 
 makes me groan, and I long and sigh to be in a situation 
 where I could labour incessantly for their benefit. No, I 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 836-1 844 37 
 
 would not care about comfort or enjoyment if I could only 
 do this. My heart often burns for my country, and yet I 
 am lazy, and do not do all I might there is great laziness 
 after all at the bottom of me, and I have need to remember 
 this. Often, too, I get wearied and worn out with the 
 sight of so much misery, and, most of all, degradation, 
 sometimes baseness and wickedness. This is the worst to 
 bear. I frequently aspire after being and doing something 
 great, that I may be remembered. Yet I care not for 
 honour or praise if I could only really do something to 
 benefit my fellow creatures. If I were a man, I would not 
 work for riches, to make myself a name or to leave a 
 wealthy family behind me. No, 1 think I would work for 
 my country and make its people my heirs. 
 
 " But now let me look what has been in my heart of 
 lighter feelings. I have thought, I must say, a good deal 
 of love and marriage. ... I feel indeed that I could love 
 most intensely, most fervently, and never will I marry 
 unless I do. 
 
 " March. Friday night, went with father and Margaret 
 to the play saw the Rivals and Van Amburgh's lions, 
 etc. Very much interested and amused. Felt very 
 strangely the next day, and as I did not read much or do 
 anything of that, but was working almost all day, I had 
 liberty to let my thoughts range ; they were about love, 
 marriage, etc. It is certainly strange I should think of such 
 things so much. It must be wrong. This play brought 
 all these things more vividly into my mind, and made me 
 fancy all sorts of stuff. I have been lazy, dull, and silent 
 the greater part of the day, and felt inclined only for 
 thinking, and then my thoughts were foolish. . . . My 
 luxurious idle way of spending my time for the last ten 
 
3 8 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 days has certainly enervated me considerably. I want 
 hard study and hard working to make me active and steady 
 again. 
 
 " Heading Ghilde Harold, The Bride of Abydos, Manfred, 
 not much of Wordsworth, a little of Byron's life. 
 
 " I see that Margaret has three times the quickness in 
 reading, learning, or remembering anything that I have ; 
 then she can talk much better. I see plainly I am very 
 slow, and have a very bad memory. I cannot lay hold of 
 things without considerable difficulty. Then I have not 
 altogether a good temper. I have a great tendency to be 
 overbearing, contemptuous, and rude. I believe suspicion 
 and jealousy have been pretty nearly eradicated, and I 
 have also learnt to endure superiority without envy. 
 
 " Have heard from Arthur very much pleased. He is 
 my best friend and adviser. He often keeps me from 
 falling into foolish ways, talking of foolish things, etc. I 
 do not like to do or say anything that he would not like, 
 because I believe he is wiser than I am. 
 
 "April. Now my winter's going out is ended. I 
 believe I have found out that I am not at all to suit the 
 general taste. Scarcely anybody ever thinks of dancing 
 with me twice ; in short, I am considerably stupid, I never 
 can find much to say. I think I am growing shyer ; I do 
 not like to talk to gentlemen, I always feel bothered. I 
 like dancing more, and going out a little occasionally, 
 however, not less. I see how people carry on, etc. etc. I 
 am shyer too in speaking openly in my letters, in talking 
 to the school children, and, indeed, in almost everything. 
 Yet I am often very overbearing and contradictory, fond 
 of having my own way in everything, and generally 
 manage to get it too. ... I have grown fonder of calling, 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836-1844 39 
 
 and begin to like some of our friends. I must try not to 
 neglect the poor people, but really I begin to find it almost 
 too much to visit the whole school, and it will be more so 
 now I have taken a district for distributing tracts. I 
 think I shall like this very well. 
 
 " May. D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, which 
 we have been reading, has rather set me a-thinking about 
 Faith, Justification, etc., Luther's notions. I hardly 
 understand, and I do not think they are exactly what I 
 have thought. ' This is the victory which overcometh the 
 world, even our faith.' It is the belief in our Saviour's 
 sufferings for us, in all His love, which makes us work. 
 If He so loved us, we ought also to love one another, and 
 this love one for another makes us seek each other's 
 welfare. I don't see that we are to have any motive 
 in this, but that the love which is in us makes us do 
 all this naturally, and constrains us to work. Is 
 not this the Spirit of God which stirs in our hearts ? 
 This is perfection, the perfection which we are to strive 
 after. But how many hindrances do we find in our own 
 hearts to the attainment of this perfection. Selfishness 
 and idleness, and sometimes the situations we are placed 
 in. And it is only the constant thought of Christ's death, 
 and looking at the example He has left us of unwearied 
 exertion for others, which can produce in us that faith 
 which overcometh the world. 
 
 " I liked the district business better this week, and I 
 like mother going with me. 
 
 " I do not look so closely into my heart, and watch 
 how my time is spent, as I used to do. 
 
 " Beading History of Charles XII ; Hermann and 
 Dorothea, Bruce's Travels. Eeading the Fairy Bower. 
 
4-0 Memo ir of An n e J. C lough 
 
 This book has made a great impression on me, it is so 
 like children and their ways, and my own ways too. I 
 can understand all about it, and I think it will teach me 
 many things. I might have learnt one thing to-day that 
 might have prevented my pressing J. D. not to speak of 
 Mrs. E.'s conduct. 
 
 " I fear I am growing daily more disobliging ; I really 
 wish I could mend. I am determined I will do what I am 
 asked directly, and I will try to exert my mind more. If 
 I could do these things, I should be much happier, though 
 I do not know any part of my life [in which] I have been 
 happier. I very seldom feel lonely. Father and mother 
 are so good to me. I could like never to leave them. 
 
 " I have not had such a longing to be back in Charleston 
 for a long time. I seem to want my old friends again. I 
 feel lonely, and a desire for* the company of those of my 
 own age. I don't know anyone that exactly suits ; and 
 then, too, this summer weather makes one sigh after the 
 country ; there is scarcely anywhere to walk. 
 
 " I believe it is not good to live very much alone, one 
 has no one to give up to or serve. I can see plainly 1 am 
 grown much more selfish, and fond of my own way. 
 
 " June. Was most exceedingly put out of the way 
 last Sunday on hearing Arthur was only in the second 
 class in the examination. I could not endure he should 
 be beat by anyone. . . . However, I am beginning to get 
 over it now. 
 
 " I see indeed, both in great and small things, how very 
 far I am from that perfection I aim at. Nevertheless, 
 Lord, I will not faint or be distanced ; the race is set before 
 me, and in Thy strength I will run it, nothing must or 
 shall stop me. Arthur comes home. . . . There has cer- 
 
L ife at L iverpool 1836-1844 41 
 
 tainly been a quantity of show-off nonsense and attempt at 
 talking finely about poetry, etc., which A. did not seem 
 to approve of, and put off. I want praise too much, yet 
 he is the only person from whom I really desire it. . . . 
 
 " July. Charles and George came home ; very much 
 delighted, a great deal of talk. I think Charles is hand- 
 somer than ever. Feel very happy. 
 
 " After all, in this world it would be useless to expect 
 perfect communion with anyone, especially where I have 
 so many defects myself, and so much foolishness. There 
 must be times when one will feel solitary, though truly I 
 am always angry with myself when I give way to such 
 feelings, for I have more friends than most people, and am 
 more made of and thought of, and yet there is a lonely 
 corner in my heart. This is not remarkable, it is so with 
 everyone. 
 
 " Eead some of Dr. Arnold's sermon this week, which 
 struck me forcibly. 
 
 " Min-y-don, August. Got a letter from mother which 
 frightened me very much as to father's business. 
 
 " Father's letter arrives with the news that all is up 
 with him. 
 
 " I go home by the coach rather an amusing journey, 
 saw a good many strange people. 
 
 " Find things very bad, father and mother very much 
 out of spirits. The next week they began to mend. 
 Arthur comes home and gets the promise of pupils. 
 
 " October. Have been very busy about household work 
 and other work, no time for reading, and have been obliged 
 to neglect the school. Don't like my change of occupation 
 much, but am glad to have an opportunity of learning 
 these sorts of things. 
 
42 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 "Arthur goes off to Rugby, leaves mother 90 of his 
 earnings, very kind, and makes no fuss about it. It seems 
 when he goes [as though] some bright star that shed a 
 lustre round had disappeared. I could almost think Arthur 
 has too low an opinion of my capabilities of keeping a 
 school, which I desire most earnestly to do. This debt to 
 Uncle Charles haunts me, I cannot bear the thought of 
 being idle so long as it is unpaid. 
 
 " Went yesterday to a Protestant meeting. Was 
 glad I had gone for once to see what sort of thing 
 it was. I don't know what to think about it. I dare- 
 say these people mean well, but such things are not 
 likely to encourage a Christian spirit of kindness and 
 charity. 
 
 " Last week Jane Corrie called and offered most kindly 
 to assist me in preparing for my school duties. Very 
 much rejoiced at it, and in very good spirits about my 
 undertaking. But now I am beginning to despair of 
 success. However, I am determined to use every exertion 
 in my power to get a start. I will not leave one stone 
 unturned, and I cannot help hoping that God will be 
 graciously pleased to prosper me. 
 
 " November. I do deeply regret not being able to look 
 after my school children as I used to do. 
 
 " I am not desolate or solitary in my family by any 
 means, quite the contrary, yet in many of my thoughts 
 and feelings, especially about religion, I am solitary. I do 
 not talk about them to anyone. But everyone must have 
 a solitary place in his heart. 
 
 " December. I must say I feel very desponding. No 
 prospect of any scholars, nor has George a situation. All 
 looks black and gloomy. 
 
Life at Liverpool 1836- 1844 43 
 
 " I have some notion of going out day governessing, if 
 I can get leave. Arthur does not like this plan. 
 
 " Have been on some scholar - hunting expeditions, 
 which I did not like at all, but was always kindly received. 
 
 "January 1842. Had an offer to go and teach at 
 Aigburth, but it fell through ; an offer of four scholars at 
 home followed. 
 
 " Began my school. 
 
 " At times get very tired of school-keeping, and find it 
 more laborious and wearisome than I expected. Little 
 Margaret a great comfort to me. 
 
 " At Easter, Arthur came down from Oxford to see us, 
 after he had gained the Oriel Fellowship. He was more 
 like himself than he had been for a long time, talked more 
 and seemed in better spirits. 
 
 " Began my holidays, to my great delight. 
 
 " Dr. Arnold dies, Arthur comes home for one day, 
 and seems in great distress. I start for Pomfret. 
 
 "August. Home, busy about school matters. Two 
 new scholars. On the whole, like my occupation better. 
 
 " September. Busy getting ready for George's departure. 
 Arthur comes home on Monday, on which day George 
 leaves for his ship. 
 
 " October. Arthur comes on the 3rd, and father sails 
 for America on the 4th. 
 
 " November. It is my greatest wish and desire to be as 
 quiet and gentle as Aunt Crowder. . . . When I think of 
 my great roughness and laziness, my overbearing temper, 
 my excessive love of praise and fear of offending others, 
 and my want of charity, and fondness for talking of the 
 faults of others, all my innumerable faults, I almost 
 despair. But I will at anyrate try. 
 
44 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 " Have been reading Newman's Sermons. They have 
 made me feel afraid. I know I have become worse lately. 
 . . . The world to me is not dark. I have friends whom I 
 love and who love me, a home where I am very happy, 
 employment which is only sometimes irksome, and which 
 is, I trust, useful. I have bright hopes, not perhaps 
 bright, but sweet, quiet hopes for the future. ... Two 
 things alone I can have to regret the necessity for my 
 father's absence and our debts. 
 
 " December. I have felt completely wearied of my school 
 duties and am longing for rest. 
 
 " Good news from America of father and George's suc- 
 cess. Arthur also gets a lectureship. On the whole, a 
 very busy month, no time for reflection. 
 
 "May 1843. I fear I mismanage the children; how- 
 ever, I must try to do better. I shall not be sorry to give 
 up school-keeping, I have too much to do now. The world 
 looks dark and gloomy, I feel alone. I want a guide ; but 
 perhaps it is better I should be without. I am like the 
 Israelites when they asked for a king. 
 
 " Jwie 1843. Started for Ireland on the 20th June, 
 returned on the 8th July. Father arrived on the 24th, 
 while I was away. Had a very pleasant visit, and feel the 
 better for it. I feel a greater desire to be quiet than ever. 
 It seems to me that to be quiet and to be active, or rather, 
 to be quietly active, constantly going on with untiring 
 energy, and yet so softly as scarcely to be perceptible, 
 this seems to me to be an approach towards perfection. 
 And this lesson we learn from Nature, which is unceas- 
 ingly and yet imperceptibly changing. 
 
 " I feel better, and good thoughts come more freely to 
 my mind, and calmness is not now a stranger there. . . . 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 8 3 6- 1 8 44 45 
 
 " I have been thinking a good deal of America, and I 
 am half inclined to think I should be happier there. Here 
 we have few friends. I have scarcely any companions, 
 and yet I love my native land, and Arthur is a strong tie 
 to it, and Margaret too. Then there is that horrible 
 slavery. No, I do not think I shall ever permanently 
 leave England. 
 
 " Went to Ehual Issa with father ; heard Dr. Hook 
 preach, and met him at H. Ffoulkes's. . . . There was too 
 much talk about High Church and Low Church to please 
 me not by Dr. Hook, but by the others. It seems people 
 cannot do things quietly nowadays ; they must make a 
 great stir. 
 
 " August Arthur came home for the day. He told us 
 all about his journey ; was very kind. He brought me 
 some books Moultrie's Poems and Tennyson's and sundry 
 other things. I felt as if we were children again. Charley 
 and I had a long talk about our lack of friends, especially 
 in this country, to suit our taste. ... I shall certainly be 
 sorry when he leaves home for a constancy, unless he were 
 to be well married, which I should like of all things. 
 
 " November. Father sails for America by the steamer. 
 We remain very quiet, and get along comfortably together. 
 Charles reads to us in an evening : The Merchant of Venice, 
 Homer, and The Last of the Barons. 
 
 "On November 30th Charles came up from the office 
 and brought us the account of poor dear George's death, 
 and also of father's arrival. The thought that his own 
 family were all away from him was very bitter. . . . 
 Charles leaves by the steamer on December 5. Arthur 
 comes home on the 18 th, and is very good in reading to 
 us in an evening. 
 
46 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 "January 1844. Have been reading Trench's poems, 
 which are beautiful, also in the last year Moultrie's and 
 Tennyson's, some of Shakespeare's plays, The Last of the 
 Barons (a disagreeable book), The Hour and the Man, Lives 
 of Celehrated Scotchmen, some of Cow per, a few of Newman's 
 sermons, and Arnold's ; the last, the new volume, are most 
 beautiful. 
 
 " February. Eead Deerbrooh The book made a great 
 impression on me. It showed me so many of my 
 faults. . . . There is much like Hester in me, but I am 
 not so bad. 
 
 " Arthur's visit at home did me a world of good ; that 
 and reading Miss Bremer's works have put down a great 
 deal of that morbid sentimental nonsense which I was full 
 of. I like visiting among my poor friends better, and 
 going to the Welsh school too. . . . Heading Coleridge's 
 works ; like the second volume, but not the first. Learning 
 French of Mr. Lefevre ; like it very much. Am reading 
 Madame de StaeTs Dix Annies d'Exil. Finish Carlyle's Past 
 and Present ; like it very much. It makes one long to be 
 able to do something. I feel very lazy often, but I long 
 to be able to make some money, that we might get free of 
 debt. 
 
 " April. Arthur brings some new books : Froissart's 
 Chronicles, The Life of St. Stephen, a volume of Trench's 
 poems. Like them all, Trench's poems extremely. 
 
 " The Life of St. Stephen is a strange book, but it made 
 a great impression on me. It seems to me that the men 
 in those times were in many ways better than at present. 
 There was more self-denial, and they lived in a greater 
 spirit of prayer ; but yet it appears to me we should go 
 backward in some measure were we to follow their example 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 836-1 844 47 
 
 implicitly. We must try to learn to do everything in a 
 Christian way, and to think constantly in a Christian way, 
 then those constant daily, almost hourly, prayers will not 
 be so needful. But certainly it does appear a good practice, 
 especially for the young, to teach them to keep God always 
 in their thoughts. 
 
 " June,. Pleasant journey to Braunston. . . . Various 
 walks about the neighbourhood. Visited Eugby; went 
 over the school and saw my brother's studies, the great 
 schoolroom, the library, and the hall. Saw a good many 
 people while at Braunston . . . but upon the whole I did 
 not feel at all in spirits. Arthur wrote me a great many 
 letters to cheer me up, and they did me good." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 LIFE AT LIVERPOOL 1844-1852 
 
 For the next eight years Anne and her mother lived 
 together in Liverpool. They were far from well off; and 
 partly for this reason, and partly on account of Mrs. 
 Clough's disinclination for society, they led a very quiet 
 life. They had only a very small circle of acquaintances 
 in Liverpool, though they had a few friends whom they 
 valued highly. They saw much of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 
 Bulley and their children, and of Mr. and Mrs. Calder and 
 their family ; and Anne had much pleasant intercourse 
 with Mr. and Mrs. William Conybeare, who lived for a 
 time within easy reach of the Cloughs. She had now, 
 too, found a congenial friend in Miss Wotherspoon, whose 
 name appears frequently in the journal; and about this 
 time she became intimate with Mrs. Claude and her 
 daughters, who lived at Ambleside, but were occasionally 
 in Liverpool. 
 
 Charles Clough lived at home with his mother and 
 sister until 1846, when he married his cousin, Margaret 
 Clough, and soon after this he settled in Wales. Arthur 
 kept up constant communication with them ; and through- 
 out this period he was their chief help and stay, and, as 
 one of their friends remarked, he helped Anne quite as a 
 sister might have done in all home arrangements. He 
 and Anne seem to have been drawn closer together than 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 844-1 852 49 
 
 ever after their father's death, and she turned to him for 
 sympathy and help in difficulties of all kinds. He wrote 
 to her about the management of her poor children, about 
 servants (in one letter he regrets that she has now nearly 
 all the cooking to do) ; and when she was about to visit 
 him at Oxford, he sent advice about her clothes, adding 
 that he ought to be at home to assist her in choosing 
 them. He wrote much about books too, and sometimes 
 about her studies, as in the following letter, written in 
 1846: 
 
 " I will consider the subject you speak of, my dear. 
 On the whole, I should incline to study arithmetic and 
 grammar, perhaps ; but you must remember that a great 
 advantage is given by any sort of cultivation (music, draw- 
 ing, dancing, German, French, etc. etc.) for intercourse 
 with the poor.' They feel the distinction very sensibly, 
 and carry their liking for a lady almost to the vice of 
 liking a fine lady. I should suppose you were not at all 
 exceeding on the side of over-refinement in your present 
 course ; and I should say you might very well keep to it, 
 in the hope of some day finding an opening for more 
 perfectly accomplishing your wishes. Doubtless there is a 
 danger of letting one's energies perish ; but I fancy you 
 over-estimate that very readily in your own case, though, 
 of course, of this you must be the judge." 
 
 He seems to have felt that her ardour for teaching 
 and other work among the poor was almost excessive, but 
 he evidently respected her opinions and thought highly of 
 her capacity ; and in his letters he repeatedly expresses 
 the wish that she should have a wider sphere, and an 
 opportunity for work " more up to your mark." 
 
 Anne gave up her little school in 1846; but she 
 4 
 
50 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 worked harder than ever at her teaching in the Sunday- 
 school and the National schools, and entered upon various 
 new undertakings, such as a lending library for the school 
 children and a weekly reading for women. 
 
 She still paid occasional visits to her relations in 
 Wales and Yorkshire, and under Arthur's guidance she 
 made acquaintance for the first time with the Lake 
 country. She went for a little tour with him to the 
 various lakes, and at different times spent several weeks 
 with him and her mother at Grasmere and Amble- 
 side. In 1846, also, Arthur took her for her first journey 
 abroad. 
 
 Mrs. Conybeare has kindly sent me some reminiscences 
 of her acquaintance with Miss Clough at this time, and 
 among them the following: "She had one pleasure quite 
 her own ; she had found it out and arranged it all herself, 
 and we thought it was the chief joy of her life. When- 
 ever she could get a spare afternoon, she hurried to the 
 workhouse school, and persuaded the authorities (rules in 
 such places were not then very cut-and-dried or definite) 
 to let her take some twenty of the little girls for a walk. 
 My husband and I often met them exploring the banks 
 and the hedgerow ditches of the few country lanes about 
 Everton and Edgehill for the few flowers growing there, 
 both she and the children looking supremely content and 
 happy. It was the pleasantest sight to be seen in those 
 somewhat dreary regions, and always sent us home refreshed. 
 
 " We had a true admiration for her, and felt hers was 
 a character of rare childlike simplicity, combined with a 
 beautiful perseverance in well-doing. . . . Her brother 
 used to send her from Oxford boxes of books, light 
 reading and otherwise, volumes of which she would often 
 
Life at Liverpool 1844-1852 51 
 
 bring over to our house, that we might be partakers of 
 them also. ... I remember my husband was much struck 
 by the way everything doubtful or evil in what she read 
 fell off from her as a drop of water from a cabbage-leaf. 
 There was nothing in her which comprehended it or, if it 
 comprehended, took any interest in it." 
 
 After 1844 the Journal becomes much less detailed 
 than in earlier years, and is written only at irregular 
 intervals ; but it is still a very frank and full record of 
 Anne's thoughts and interests at this time, as the following 
 extracts, covering the three years from 1844 to 1847, will 
 show : 
 
 " 1845, February. Months have passed away since 
 I last wrote in my Journal, and how many things have 
 happened. My father lies in his grave. Charles has 
 returned. Myself, I am changed. How many conflicts I 
 have endured, the evil and good passions have conflicted in 
 my soul. Yet can I say now, thank God, there is much 
 peace in my soul. . . . 
 
 " The recollections of my beloved father come over my 
 soul like the soft breezes of spring. When it is dry and 
 hard, then does the thought of him thaw my frozen heart, 
 and make it melt into softness. 
 
 " April. It really seems useless to try and write up 
 the history of the past months. I must wait till a quieter 
 time. This month I have had some pleasant, or rather 
 interesting, conversations with Augusta Wotherspoon. , , . 
 I do feel the greatest desire for her happiness, and the 
 greatest interest in her altogether. She suits me very 
 well, because she seems to enter into my opinions and 
 wishes about working, and to think so little about 
 marriage. 
 
5 2 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 " I have been greatly excited this week by a letter. . . . 
 My poor Welsh school children comforted me greatly by 
 their attention and seriousness, and made me feel more 
 forgiving than I should have done otherwise. I do so 
 hope some of them will turn out well. . . . Arthur wrote 
 very kindly to-day, which is a comfort ; everyone is not 
 unkind. . . . Much peace has come into my soul of 
 late. . . . Beautiful thoughts and hopes spring from my 
 work, and often do I thank God for my being. I want to 
 study German one hour a day, Latin another, to read for 
 another to myself and draw. I seldom get more than 
 half of this done. . . . 
 
 " To-day, Sunday, have been reading a little of Miss 
 Martineau's Hour and the Man, the chapter entitled 
 ' Suspense/ and the end. The ideas contained in this 
 chapter seem to have grown up imperceptibly in my mind, 
 and the reading of Froissart has greatly helped their 
 development by setting before me vividly the state of 
 society in former times. The faults of those times seem 
 to have been cruelty and disregard of human life and 
 seeking for glory and honour by strength of hand ; in 
 short, by bodily power. With these were joined much 
 faith and reverence towards God. There seems to have 
 been no shame in people's religious feelings, and they 
 acknowledged God in their everyday actions and daily 
 intercourse without being ashamed. But there was a 
 want of charity, as Miss Martineau says. There was 
 a great degree of selfishness, a seeking of glory and 
 renown from their own deeds. No doubt there were 
 many noble exceptions. Charity has grown up into a 
 mighty tree in these times, and yet it is but very, very 
 small compared with what it ought to be, a mere shrub. 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 53 
 
 And this charity seems to extend only to the body ; 
 charity to the mind, that charity which will suffer a 
 diversity of opinion, which will give equal rights to those 
 who think differently, is only beginning to be thought 
 of. That charity which regards all men as equal, and as 
 such acknowledges that all should be regarded and treated 
 as brethren, is made a joke of, or, at best, only approved 
 of by the few. Many would think it strange my reading 
 such a book on Sunday, but it has done me much good. 
 It has rubbed up and polished my wish of working. 
 
 " We have taken the house in Canterbury Street. 
 Began the move : had nine of the school children. They 
 were very good, and helped us a great deal. They seemed 
 so happy, it made me feel happy too. 
 
 " I went on Saturday to bid good-bye to the old house 
 and our father's room. ... A new house brings many 
 new thoughts. I hoped it might be kept free from 
 angry passions. But what are wishes ? A month has 
 passed, and many fierce, angry thoughts have swelled in 
 my soul, many unkind words have been spoken. 
 
 " May. I have been unable to keep order in the school 
 to my heart's content. This has teased me much, and I 
 fear I have been somewhat cross. However, I trust no 
 serious harm has been done to the children; I believe I 
 manage them as well as most people, and though it is 
 but a poor comfort, yet it is a satisfaction to think they 
 would not be better managed elsewhere. I hope, however, 
 to do better soon. . . . Miss Sedgewick's Home is a nice 
 book altogether ; I liked the part about spending Sunday 
 and Mr. B.'s intercourse with the poor very much, and 
 also about the household arrangements and the adopting 
 of orphans. I half hope I may, by means of my school, 
 
54 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 manage something of this sort by and by, and thus rear 
 up some young ones to take care of me and call me 
 blessed in my old age. 
 
 " Paid a visit to Mrs. Conybeare, and had a pleasant 
 talk with her about town-life and poor people. Of late 
 the town seems to have many voices which enter into my 
 heart. I like walking in the morning early, when the 
 streets are quiet. One looks forward to the bustling day 
 which will soon come, and then one hopes that even amid 
 its cares and toil many hearts will send up prayers to 
 God, and that many even then may be thus watering 
 their hearts, as Trench's beautiful sonnet says, that all 
 the freshness of the morning may not pass away till the 
 evening and the evening dews return. And, too, even in 
 the greatest bustle we see things which tell us plainly 
 that all that is beautiful and holy in man has not died 
 away. 
 
 " June. Went to the school late on Sunday morning, 
 said some few words to the children on our parting. . . . 
 They know that I love them in my heart, and some of 
 them feel it. Oh, is it not beautiful to possess the love 
 of children, and to have the hope of leading them in the 
 right way ? To see the bud begin to open, the rough, 
 rude girl become quiet and serious and begin to think. 
 My garden looks hopeful. May God water the plants 
 with heavenly dews. 
 
 " On Wednesday we started on our journey. We 
 went first by railroad to Lancaster, then by canal to 
 Kendal. ... At last we came in sight of Windermere, 
 quiet and dark in the dull light of the evening. It was 
 still too, it looked like peace ; such as the evening of life 
 should be after a morning and noontide of busy toil. 
 
Life at Liverpool 1844-1852 55 
 
 Then we went on to Fox How. It is situated in a valley, 
 standing on a bank ; Loughrigg rises up on the left hand, 
 close to it, rather behind it ; to the right the valley opens 
 out and extends to Ambleside, and the mountain in front, 
 which, I suppose, is the bosom of Fairfield, bounds the 
 view, joining on, I think, to Loughrigg. The river Eotha 
 runs at the bottom of the garden, or rather grounds. 
 There is a terrace in front of the house, and the garden 
 lies below. The house is built of the rough country stone, 
 which does not seem to be cut, the pieces being of all 
 sizes. It is very nicely overgrown with creepers, roses, 
 etc. . . . They seem very nice friendly people, very sociable 
 and easy to get acquainted with. Matt is very merry and 
 facetious, Tom quiet, Miss Arnold rather a decided sort of 
 person. Mary very pleasant and amiable, as also Susan. 
 Fanny a merry, wild child. 
 
 " On Saturday we proceeded through Borrowdale by 
 Honister Crag to Buttermere. ... In the evening on the 
 lake [Crummock Water], a lovely quiet evening, the water 
 very still, the reflections were beautiful. Melbrick is a 
 grand mountain. It extends near two miles, I should 
 think. The lake turns near where it begins, so that the 
 whole of it is not seen from the Buttermere end. There 
 is a farmhouse beautifully situated on the other side on a 
 woody bank overlooking the lake, the mountains high 
 behind; then, a little farther, if I remember right, a 
 mountain rises forward and descends down into the lake, 
 and is backed by a still loftier one. The shadows on this 
 mountain, which looked bright and green stretching itself 
 forward to the sun, while the one behind was in the dark, 
 made a beautiful picture. 
 
 " The people we became acquainted with while in the 
 
56 Memoi7' of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Lakes were the Arnolds, the Fletchers, . . . Greaves the 
 guide, a widow at Buttermere, Mrs. Nicholson, some 
 children, Arthur's pupils, Bradley, Church, Fisher, Bastard, 
 Gibson. Saw Wordsworth and Miss Martineau. 
 
 " Books read while at Grasmere Life in Dalecarlia, by 
 Miss Bremer ; The Betrothed, an Italian work ; Emerson's 
 Essays ; some of Wordsworth ; The Rose of Tistelbn ; some 
 pieces out of The Prospective Review ; part of Blanco 
 White's Life ; some little of Tennyson. 
 
 " Blanco White had a tremendous effect on me, and 
 also those parts of the Review I read. I thought 1 could 
 not but believe much the same, and this distressed , me 
 greatly. . . . We (Arthur and I) had spoken a little on 
 the Sunday before on the subject of baptism, which he 
 seemed greatly inclined to regard as merely a sort of form 
 which had been instituted as a sign of admission into the 
 early Christian Church, and useful then, when outward 
 signs for everything were constantly required, but he 
 seems half inclined to doubt whether there was any use in 
 continuing it. ... I had felt for some time a sort of free- 
 dom growing up in my thoughts, I half fancied from seeing 
 the open mountains, breathing the pure air, and so I had 
 been prepared to be liberalised. About baptism I had 
 felt for some months a sort of uncertainty, had avoided as 
 much as possible expressing any opinion, and it seemed to 
 come gradually to my mind that it must be only a form, 
 though that it might not be necessary never struck me. 
 I was thus in some measure prepared to be liberal in 
 reading Blanco White. I was greatly horrified at the 
 light in which he seemed to regard the Bible and the bad 
 effects that Christianity has produced. I cannot but think 
 he carries his opinions too far on these points. I liked 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 57 
 
 what he said on prayer very much. It does seem to me 
 to be best when we can bring our hearts into a constant 
 spirit of earnest longing after what is right, and a firm 
 determination, or rather habit, of trying to do what is right. 
 There is no occasion then of kneeling down or repeating 
 forms to make prayers ; we live then in a constant aspira- 
 tion after being transformed into the image of God, and 
 when through our weakness we fall into sin, the habitual 
 desire of our mind being contrary to sin, we shall im- 
 mediately be sorry and try to turn back to what is right. 
 But I think we cannot expect all this to come at once. 
 It surely must require some discipline of mind, some habit 
 of constantly turning the thoughts to God ; and may not 
 forms of devotion and frequent times set apart for such 
 purposes help the young to acquire a belief in Him who 
 is invisible, and a constant sense of His presence? I 
 half think my constant realisation of God's presence has 
 been greatly brought about by the use of Cosin's private 
 devotions for some two or three years. And Blanco White 
 may not have been sensible what he gained in his child- 
 hood by acquiring a sense of this. He always seems to 
 have earnestly wished to do right. . . . 
 
 " Upon the whole, I feel puzzled and uncertain, and I 
 cannot speak as I used to do to the children. I hope light 
 to understand all this will come in time, but I must say 
 my anxiety about it made me feel very much out of spirits 
 on my return home, and I fear I gave way to a great deal 
 of hastiness and overbearingness. I did not manage the 
 children well at all after I began school again. . . . My 
 six children came back to school, a good beginning. 
 
 " August. I have changed my day for my weekly class, 
 and have set the children to read Mrs. Markham's History 
 
58 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 of Ewjland and to learn geography. I hope the plan will 
 answer. I want to give them a love for reading something 
 better than common story-books, and to get them to like 
 better things in general. It seems to me that this is the 
 right way to raise the lower classes, and I do not see why 
 we should seek or wish to keep from them any of those 
 things we find beneficial to ourselves. I cannot see why 
 they should be kept from knowledge for fear we should 
 have no one to do our drudgery work for us. It seems to 
 me there will always be plenty of people who will like that 
 sort of thing. 
 
 " September. Arthur came home on the 1 4th. We 
 had a great many pleasant talks together, some on Blanco 
 White and the criticisms of his Life, and some on our own 
 affairs. He spoke once on the subject of the pursuit of 
 knowledge. He said there was a great danger of its being 
 pursued in a wrong spirit, viz. from vanity and a desire 
 of being remarkable, or a sort of idle curiosity then it 
 might lead us astray. But if we in all humility sought 
 after it, and avoided especially any partiality for our own 
 opinions getting a strong hold of us, there would not be so 
 much danger of our going wrong. In truth, I daresay, it 
 might be hard to many to avoid a certain pride in thinking 
 they know better and have more extensive views than 
 others. Arthur was very kind all the time, and what he 
 said helped me very much, but still I feel rather un- 
 settled. 
 
 " I often feel very much out of sorts, and half wish we 
 were out of Liverpool. We lead such a very solitary life, 
 and I am beginning to fear I shall not see much fruit of 
 my labours. And my anxieties make me cross and ill- 
 natured, and altogether sometimes everything looks very 
 
L ife at L iverpool 1844- 1852 59 
 
 black. But it is a shame of me thus to disregard my 
 blessings, and I hope I shall get out of all this cloud. It 
 ought to be enough that I have the opportunity of 
 ministering to the happiness of at least some few. 
 
 " Had a good deal of talk with Arthur about the Atone- 
 ment and some other things. He said it would be best to 
 teach according to St. John's Gospel, that Christ came to 
 lead us to the Father, and that through Him we are united 
 to God. 
 
 " January 1846. I have felt much happier of late, not 
 so disturbed. I have got not to care so much for other 
 people's opinions, or rather what they think of me. 
 
 " Carlyle's French Revolution has done me, I hope, a 
 great deal of good. It has made me feel much stronger. 
 But there is too much hurry about me ; I do not do things 
 quietly enough. I want to do a great deal more if I could 
 manage it, and I must try. My class of Welsh school- 
 girls interests me much. They seem to be improving and 
 to get more civilised. 
 
 " February. Began a weekly reading in St. Andrew's 
 Street. Four people came the first time, and three the 
 second. I hope it will succeed. I want to get the people to 
 see the comfort of being clean and tidy. 
 
 " My plan of having another class of elder girls must 
 stand still at present. Whether it will ever be managed I 
 know not. I should like something on a larger scale. I 
 have been visiting a good deal among the children's 
 parents, and there has been a great increase in the 
 attendance at the Sunday school. I have got a nice class 
 now, and hope to keep it. I fancy the tea-parties at 
 Christmas helped a good deal. 
 
 " April. Arthur comes home. He is very kind and 
 
60 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 encouraging, but I feel stupefied, and cannot talk as much 
 as I could have liked. It seems to me I am too much 
 engrossed with my little circle of interests. In short, I 
 am unfit to be an agreeable companion. My vocation is 
 to speak kind words to children, and do what I can among 
 the poor. I always feel the defects of my education most 
 painfully when I go out. I want sharpness sadly. I am 
 altogether too heavy. Some talk with Arthur about 
 marriage, also about the duties that single women owe to 
 their families. Arthur and I went to the Conybeares'. A 
 long discussion between Arthur and Mr. Conybeare about 
 the treatment of infidels, or rather of inquirers after truth. 
 Mr. Conybeare seemed to think that Christianity ought to 
 be received because it was Christianity, on the faith of 
 what it had done, and that no unbelievers had ever 
 devoted themselves so entirely to promote the benefit of 
 their fellow-creatures as Christians had. Arthur thought 
 it was a great duty to destroy or explain any dogmas or 
 doctrines that might stand in the way of these unbelievers 
 becoming Christians, and to show them that Christianity 
 was what they wanted to make them perfect. They spoke 
 of Shelley. Mr. Conybeare said he led a luxurious life 
 abroad, that in his case there was probably a great 
 pleasure in going contrary to his friends. Arthur thought 
 that he did not lead a luxurious life, and while he was sailing 
 about those Italian lakes he might probably be passing a 
 life of mental exertion, striving to live above the world 
 and to give a body to his thoughts and aspirations in his 
 poems. In fact, I suppose he was making wings for other 
 people to fly on. It was a great pleasure to listen to 
 this discussion, and hear so much that was interesting 
 without having to say anything. Arthur left us on Easter 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 844-1 852 61 
 
 Eve. I feel very much out of sorts about it, more so than 
 usual. However, I managed to work harder next week, 
 both at drawing and reading. Am beginning to get up my 
 spirits again." 
 
 In June 1846 she went with a friend to visit her 
 brother at Oxford, and then went abroad with him. 
 
 " Such a pleasant time we had, and Arthur shone so 
 in his hospitality and gentle politeness. I saw some of 
 his friends, Dr. and Mrs. Greenhill and Tom Arnold, Mr. 
 Temple and young Walrond, etc. 
 
 " I was delighted with Louvain, and really began to 
 understand I was abroad. . . . We started by railway for 
 Cologne, had some German companions who were returning 
 from England ; one of them had been formerly in Queen 
 Charlotte's household, and had been allowed to see the Queen 
 and young royal family, with which she seemed greatly 
 charmed. There was also a Belgian youth with whom I had 
 some talk in French. . . . Crowds of people were in the 
 third-class carriages, and they seemed exceedingly merry 
 and happy, as also the guards and other people belonging 
 to the road. . . . The latter part of the road lay through 
 a great open plain, undivided by hedges of any kind. . . . 
 On the steamer I soon made acquaintance with a young 
 Spaniard, lately married to an Englishwoman. They were 
 going to Wiesbaden, along with another couple, Dutch 
 people the latter lady was the most pleasing and modest. 
 The Spaniard and I talked a great deal, and had a discussion 
 on the Eoman Catholic religion, etc., and on the whole it was 
 very amusing. ... I had some talk with a Eussian party ; 
 they were fine-looking people . . . they were not very soci- 
 able. I also talked a little German to a young woman of 
 Mannheim, who was going there with her little boy. . . . 
 
62 Memoir of Anne J. Ciough 
 
 " At Lucerne Arthur met his friend Cotton and his 
 wife. . . . 
 
 " We took leave of the Cottons at Magadino, and went 
 in a carriage to Lugano. We had a great deal of con- 
 versation about various things, principally about our 
 future plans ; the necessity, or rather great benefit, of 
 women finding work, and considering it a duty to do so, 
 and also whether they are at liberty to choose their own 
 paths in some cases (I mean single women), without 
 reference to their families. Then, again, about the 
 advantages and disadvantages of one class of people hold- 
 ing themselves distinct, and the evils that proceed from 
 constant intercourse with those beneath you, also the 
 advantage and comfort of companionship among one's 
 equals and those interested in like pursuits. . . . Drove 
 to Luino on Lake Maggiore, through rich country by the 
 banks of a winding river, the moon very beautiful, some 
 fine trees by the side of the lake. A discussion about 
 servants. Arthur's proposal about having servants merely 
 for the day. He thinks it is not altogether right that the 
 mistresses should take the direction of their servants' dress 
 and conduct, etc. He thinks they might live in com- 
 munities in boarding-houses. 
 
 "March 1847. How many things have happened 
 since I wrote in this book. . . . There was my coming 
 home with Arthur, and my distress at the final conclusion 
 of my school, which set me as it were afloat on the world 
 again for occupation. Then I began my new class twice a 
 week of old schoolgirls and others whom I knew who did 
 not attend school, mostly elder girls, and going on with the 
 district and the reading, and the old Welsh School class, 
 besides a weekly visit as formerly to the girls' and infants' 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 844-1 852 63 
 
 schools, and going twice on Sunday to attend two large 
 classes, and more preparation for teaching, which seemed to 
 answer. Then I had my German and painting to attend 
 to, and general reading. Thus I managed after a while to 
 get busy again, and to begin to be contented and happy. 
 
 " I go to visit the Claudes in September at Ambleside. 
 Some delightful excursions. Had various discussions about 
 married and single life, and one long talk with Jane Claude 
 about working. Told her some of my notions about its being 
 right in certain cases to quit even one's father and mother 
 and family for work as well as for a husband. 
 
 " The only remarkable events of this winter were my 
 going to the theatre twice, once with the Bulleys to see 
 Mrs. Butler in The Hunchback, and afterwards to see 
 Macready in Richelieu, both of which were great treats, 
 especially the former. My G-erman lessons and discussions 
 with Mr. Migault were my chief amusement, along with 
 Augusta W.'s society. 
 
 " The only little excitement I had myself this winter 
 
 was in the attentions of . I don't think it was 
 
 altogether fancy on my part. However, I made up my 
 mind at once, and looked the danger full in the face 
 There is no use giving the slightest encouragement when 
 one is determined, even if one's feelings did waver for a 
 moment, to stand out. By being too kind one runs the 
 risk of being caught oneself and led into an unwise 
 alliance, or else one may give a great deal of unnecessary 
 pain. I don't think this was all my fancy, but it may 
 have been. 
 
 " I have been reading Emerson's Essays, Arnold's Rome 
 and some of his Sermons, some of Schiller's prose works, Le 
 Pkre Goriot and Andre' twice over, also Zoe and Emilia 
 
64 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Wyndham. Augusta Wotherspoon and I talked of our 
 religious views, and on these we agreed far more than I 
 expected ; and I was utterly astonished when we spent 
 two days at the Pritts' to hear her speak with such 
 freedom and boldness of her views with regard to the 
 Unitarians, when I was silent, or at least nearly so. I am 
 still a great coward in speaking out my opinions, indeed in 
 speaking at all, but I believe A.'s courage on that occasion 
 has made me fully ashamed of myself, though I am still 
 inclined to think it is best to avoid speaking on such 
 subjects (I mean free-thinking subjects) in a general way. 
 It is a fearful thing to unsettle people's faith. I have 
 suffered enough in that way myself. . . . Yet it is easy to 
 err on this side too through cowardice, for one ought not 
 to be afraid to give one's friends pain if by so doing one 
 can promote their higher improvement. Not happiness 
 but perfection is what one should most earnestly desire 
 and seek after both for one's friends and oneself. 
 
 "May 1847. I still hanker after a more decided 
 vocation of teaching, but I still greatly doubt my abilities 
 for such an office. I fear I could not keep order, being 
 besides altogether too hot-tempered and overbearing when 
 I have the full swing of power in my own hands. I have 
 learnt to accommodate myself to others pretty well, so 
 that I can work pretty fairly as an occasional assistant. 
 It has been my constant occupation through life. 
 
 " May. The first new event I have to record is the 
 engagement of Augusta W. to Mr. Migault. I have every 
 hope that the alliance will tend to the happiness and 
 improvement of both parties. A. will grow stronger, her 
 peculiar powers and graces will be developed in married 
 life, and I trust her trials may at least have no great bitter- 
 
Life at Liverpool 1844-1852 65 
 
 ness in them. Anyhow, it is better she should go forth and 
 fight a battle with the difficulties of life than slumber in 
 listless quietness, devoid of any great interests or lofty 
 aims. 
 
 " When I came home from our travels, and began to 
 learn with Mr. M. again, we had many interesting con- 
 versations, and from his vehemence against untruthfulness 
 I learnt to be more strictly truthful, both in speaking and 
 acting. His talks were the best sermons I ever heard on 
 this subject. . . . 
 
 " Then, too, he talked about the impossibility of persons 
 being really good Christians if they gave way to evil 
 tempers. He would make no allowance for natural 
 temperament. I remember being very much struck with 
 this talk, because I had been always inclined to excuse my 
 own bad temper on this score. His vehemence and scorn 
 of evil roused me, and I began to despise my own weakness 
 and to try to fight against it, and thus my energy began 
 to grow. When he spoke of his feelings towards A., I was 
 sorry for him, but I did not want to help him, nor did I 
 see how I could. . . . The story of An&H made a great 
 impression on me, and held me back from doing anything. 
 . . . But this continual talking at last drove me to the 
 determination to bring about some acting. ... I believe 
 I acted with perfect sincerity. That there were some 
 selfish motives in my heart I acknowledge, but I did not 
 let them sway me much. I thought very little about my 
 motives, and tried to act straightforward. . . . 
 
 " However, I managed to tease myself pretty fairly about 
 the matter, and at last became so unable to do anything 
 that I accepted the Claudes' invitation to visit them at 
 Broadlands. On Sunday a letter from Arthur brought me 
 
66 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 consolation, and I stayed at home from church for quiet- 
 ness. Before I went, I went to dine with Mrs. Conybeare, 
 and we had a great deal of very pleasant talk about many 
 things. 
 
 " June, Ambleside. Talked a good deal with Mary 
 Claude about various things, as, for instance, the right 
 principle that should guide us, whether it is not the voice 
 of our own hearts that we should follow, or, at least, teach 
 children to follow. In the evening, walked over Loughrigg 
 alone. ... I had beautiful views of Windermere and the 
 Tarn, and over into Langdale, and saw most lovely things 
 in the sky as I lay on the grass. The white clouds went 
 careering over the pure sky in the most lovely and won- 
 derful fashion. 
 
 " July, Liverpool. I will try what I can do to break 
 the chains of reserve and shyness that bind me fast, and 
 thus rob me of much pleasure in my intercourse with 
 others. I am not clever like many, I have not the power 
 of taking things in in a moment, but I will try, at least, 
 to be less shy and less heavy. What I have felt myself 
 much wanting in this summer is the gentle kindness to 
 others, particularly elders and those who are in trouble, 
 and also power of amusing children, that the Claudes excel 
 in. I am come home rather discouraged in many ways 
 about myself, but I hope to do better, and work will soon 
 set me to rights. If one can only do one's work well, one 
 may bear anything, and I do not see, after all, that I am 
 at all wanting in sympathy from others. 
 
 " October, Wales. As usual, my book has remained 
 unwritten up. I don't like writing it as much as I used 
 to do. I have been a good deal at the Infant School, and 
 I had a good many of them to play in the garden at 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 67 
 
 various times. The library continues to give satisfaction. 
 ... I have, at last, been introduced into the Hibernian 
 School, and am beginning to get on slowly in it. I have 
 enjoyed the morning Sunday school extremely. The 
 children have been very attentive, and I have got on 
 with talking to them very well. They enjoy reading 
 Mary Claude's hymns very much. 
 
 " I went with Jane Claude and her uncle to see Jenny 
 Lind. I was very much charmed with the simplicity of 
 her acting, and the purity, but it did not excite me near 
 so much as Mrs. Butler's and Macready's. 
 
 " Arthur came home ; a good deal of fuss and trouble. 
 . . . Arthur was very kind, in truth he is a sweet angel, 
 so gentle and good and so considerate. He is the comfort 
 and joy of my life ; it is for him, and from him, that I am 
 incited to seek after all that is lovely and of good report. 
 Preach no sermons, give no precepts, but set before me a 
 holy, beautiful example, and my heart will burn within 
 me, and I shall surely long and strive to follow it. We 
 had a pleasant, quiet talk on Sunday evening when he was 
 at home. I told him of what M. and I had been talking, 
 viz. eternal punishment, and that we did not like to 
 believe it or think of it, and he said he had quite given it 
 up, for the Greek words did not mean so much as that. 
 This has been a great comfort to me, I have felt as if a 
 great load was taken off my mind, and that I could be so 
 much happier." 
 
 There are no entries in the Journal for 1848. It was 
 an important year in the life of her brother Arthur, for in 
 May he resigned his tutorship, and in October his fellow- 
 ship at Oriel, and thus left himself without a profession. 
 Writing of him twenty years afterwards, in 1868, Miss 
 
 J 
 
68 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Clough said : " He felt that, as he had fully made up his 
 mind that he would not take Orders, and could not sign 
 the Thirty-nine Articles, it was more honest and honour- 
 able to do this at once, without waiting till he was driven 
 to it. His mother, though she said but little, especially 
 disliked the idea of his resigning his fellowship, and 
 thought it very foolish, and to her he did not like urging 
 his religious scruples. In every way it was a bad time ; 
 investments were very low, and his mother's means at 
 that time happened to be particularly small, and his own 
 savings had become less ; but it was no use, he was 
 resolved, come what might, to take the leap, and so, at 
 the age of twenty-nine, he went out from Oxford to seek 
 his fortunes anew. For once, only for once, he decided on 
 having a holiday. He rejoiced in his freedom, and for a 
 time gave up all thoughts of the future. He went in the 
 spring to Paris, where he saw a good deal of Emerson, and 
 also came in for the disturbances of May 15, and for an 
 exciting political situation, in which he was much inter- 
 ested, and of which he wrote to his sister and to others." 
 
 In October he came home to Liverpool, where, Miss 
 Clough wrote, "he read aloud to his mother and sister 
 Longfellow's poem of ' Evangeline/ and almost imme- 
 diately after began ' The Bothie.' It was written in an 
 upper room in a small house in Vine Street, looking over 
 some open ground then unbuilt upon, just below Edge 
 Hill. ' All its unfinished houses, lots for sale, and 
 railway outworks.' The passage beginning 
 
 ' But as the light of day enters some populous city,' 
 
 speaks of what he saw then. He would rush out in the 
 morning for an early walk ; it is quiet then and still in 
 
Life at Liverpool 1844-1852 69 
 
 the awakening morning, and how perfectly it is described ! 
 The open ground is gone now, and the child no longer 
 waits for its father by the scaffolding. These things 
 moved him, and he wrote in a ferment and excitement, 
 but enjoying and rejoicing in his work. His mother was 
 reading Prescott's Life of Pizarro at that time; half to 
 please her, and as a sort of remembrance, he put in the 
 bit where Elspie says 
 
 'Like the Peruvian Indians I read about last winter, 
 Out in America there, in somebody's Life of Pizarro.'" 
 
 Later in the year he arranged to be at home for some 
 time, and so enabled his sister to carry out a wish she 
 had long had in her mind, namely, to attend a training 
 school for a few months and learn something of the theory 
 and practice of teaching. The following letter from him 
 belongs to this time : " Thanks for two unanswered letters 
 (the last, by the way, very ill-spelt for a pupil teacher). 
 Well, I think it likely enough I may be able to be at 
 home for three months in the beginning of the year. If I 
 get this tutorship offered me, I shall take it, for such 
 things are scarce. But I don't expect it. It would 
 probably be an immediate call. Otherwise, being at home 
 is likely to suit me. If you go to the Borough Koad School, 
 I think living in lodgings will hardly do. You must bear 
 the religion, etc., for a while. But of this hereafter. 
 
 " It is far nobler (meantime) to teach people to do what 
 is good because it is good simply than for the sake of a 
 future reward. It is, I daresay, difficult to keep up an 
 equal religious feeling at present ; but it is not impossible, 
 and is necessary. Besides, if we die and come to nothing, 
 it does not follow that life and goodness will cease to be in 
 
jo Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 earth and heaven. If we give over dancing, it doesn't 
 therefore follow that the dance ceases itself or the music. 
 Be satisfied that whatever is good in us will be immortal, 
 and as the parent is content to die in the consciousness of 
 the child's survival, even so why not we ? There is a screed 
 which will suffice for the present. Haven't you un- 
 packed my boxes ? The George Sand is in one of them." 
 
 She accordingly went to London in January, and spent 
 three or four months there in lodgings, attending first the 
 Borough Koad and then the Home and Colonial School. 
 
 " 1849. I left home on the 16th of January, came to 
 London, met Arthur, stayed a day at his lodgings with Mr. 
 Temple there. I saw Matt Arnold and Mr. Gell. Then 
 I went to lodgings in the Borough Koad close to the 
 school. . . . Arthur's poems [the volume called Amhar- 
 valia, published jointly with T. Burbridge] reached me 
 just as I was leaving home. They were what I could 
 have wished, and my constant reading for a long time. 
 I did not see Arthur again, he went away on Tuesday. 
 
 " The unruliness of the children at the Boro' Boad 
 was very painful. I kept to a class after a time, and I 
 found I got on better, but still the teaching was never 
 satisfactory. There was too much confusion and haste in it, 
 and want of order and harmony. It seemed to be the rule 
 to do everything by excessive energy and excitement, which 
 certainly develops some good qualities, as quickness and 
 spirit. But, at the same time, the children learn to prize 
 these qualities too highly, and become self-conceited and 
 vain. The characteristics of the children at this school 
 are, as far as I could discover, great boldness and quickness, 
 firmness and self - possession, combined in the monitors 
 with a power of governing. They are also on the whole 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 71 
 
 very open and truthful and affectionate. But they are 
 rude and overbearing to each other and to the teachers, 
 are very much wanting in reverence, and are self-con- 
 ceited and vain of their learning, which may partly pro- 
 ceed from the ignorance of many of the teachers. They 
 are totally ignorant of any principle of obedience and very 
 much wanting in nice ways and nice manners. At the 
 same time, their great openness and genuineness of charac- 
 ter makes them pleasing. 
 
 " Mrs. and Miss Palmer lodged in the same house as 
 myself, and, Miss Palmer being at the school likewise, she 
 and I were a great deal together, going backwards and 
 forwards, and often sat up over my fire talking till mid- 
 night about school matters, differences of faith, amusements, 
 our past lives, etc. She was very lively, and had a great 
 taste for singing and was fond of fun ; at the same time 
 she was hasty, and said thoughtless things sometimes. 
 
 " We and her mother went to see the gay procession of 
 the Queen's going to open Parliament. We stood on a 
 board inside the railings round the Abbey near St. 
 Margaret's Church. It was very gay, and the soldiers 
 with their bright helmets and nodding plumes charmed me 
 much, but the tall man who stood beside us, and took care 
 of the women and children, stays in my memory most 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " It seemed a strange and, in one sense, an unmeaning 
 pageant, and yet it was beautiful too as a representation 
 of the majesty of England and a decking and adorning of 
 our external expression of law, order, government, and 
 national feeling which made the heart beat quicker. Thus 
 do we all seek to body forth our thoughts, but as man 
 advances in civilisation, or shall I say rather in spirituality, 
 
72 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 he will need less of this, or at least it will partake more of 
 simplicity and beauty. 
 
 " And so we went back to our work again, and so did 
 the gazing multitude, and the bridal couple we saw coming 
 out of St. Margaret's Church in the morning were far 
 away. . . . 
 
 " One Sunday I went to the Quakers' meeting. . . . 
 Another time I went to St. Paul's, and walked afterwards 
 to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, where I met the 
 French children and talked with them about the Revolu- 
 tion. . . . Another Sunday I went to Eowland Hill's 
 chapel, and another to St. George's, the Catholic chapel 
 in Lambeth, which looked so beautiful with its many 
 lights over the altar. There I heard a very impressive 
 sermon from Dr. Oakley. . . . 
 
 " I gave three gallery lessons ; the first was bad, the 
 second better, the third pleased the elder children very 
 much, and got me quite a name among them. I think 
 my fault lies in not being sufficiently quiet and collected ; 
 there is a rambling, wandering feeling in my mind which 
 prevents this. Moreover, I have great deficiency in power 
 of expression till I get hot in my subject, and then I am 
 not simple enough. . . . Mrs. Twining introduced me to 
 Miss Taylor, and she took us to see the Home and Colonial 
 School, which was very interesting, and I decided on going 
 there. I went down to Hampstead with Mrs. Twining 
 to stay with the Fields on Thursday March 10. A 
 large family of them, eight children. Walked about the 
 Heath, which looked very beautiful. Mr. Dighton, a young 
 artist, was there ; he was very pleasant, and interrupted 
 agreeably the Emersonian discourse. 
 
 " On Tuesday went a ramble to the British Museum 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 j$ 
 
 and other places with Miss Lock. ... I found the classes 
 [at the Home and Colonial School] very interesting. The 
 teachers and the pupil teachers were mostly very pleasant, 
 and they all seem very happy and comfortable together. 
 Mr. Dunning, the head master, is a good kind of man 
 apparently, but rather over religious. The school is much 
 stronger that way than the Boro' Eoad. I should fancy 
 the teachers had not so much in them, nor so much 
 mechanical knowledge as the Boro' Eoad people, but that 
 they understand things better, and that from their lessons 
 [the children] would acquire a greater love for information. 
 " On Saturday Mr. Temple and Mr. Bagehot came to 
 breakfast, and Mr. Palgrave came afterwards. I had him 
 to myself for an hour nearly, and we discussed Arthur's 
 poems and Matt Arnold's, and various other things. 
 People seem very fond of Arthur, and to think a great deal 
 of him ; but Arthur does not seem to mind much about 
 people here ; they don't seem to suit him exactly, and he 
 gets wearied and worn out with the continual talking 
 about religious matters ; and I think, too, the pomp and 
 grandeur trouble him. He does not appear at all to fancy 
 coming to live in London. He says he prefers the North, 
 and if he had a hundred a year, he would live in Liverpool 
 with us. ... I wish very much we could have come up 
 to live with him, supposing I could have got a school, for 
 I would not have liked to be idle ; but that plan seems 
 impracticable, seeing it would not suit mother. She would 
 be quite lost without her usual employments and friends. 
 It would have been such a pleasure to have kept matters 
 in order for Arthur and seen some of his friends now and 
 then. However, it seems as if it were not to be, so we 
 must be content. 
 
74 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 " April Mr. Lake, Mr. Simpkinson, and Mr. Burbidge 
 came to breakfast. We stayed at home in the morning, 
 and I got Arthur to tell me when some of the poems were 
 written. 
 
 "People seem to be shocked at some of Burbidge's 
 poems. I cannot say I have ever thought a great deal 
 about them, but I did not discover the shocking part of 
 them. It seems to me that people have yet to learn what 
 real purity is. The indulgence of feelings and desires that 
 are the natural offspring of our hearts, that grow up every- 
 where, in the savage and in the refined breast, cannot be 
 said to be impure. As refinement increases, the spiritual 
 part of our nature increases also. To those who are in a 
 lower stage the bodily presence is almost a necessity, but 
 to those who have risen higher, this, it appears to me, 
 may become of less importance. And surely, as woman 
 begins to take a more prominent part in the duties of 
 life, this will be acknowledged and practised. The woman 
 will no longer leave the business she has entered upon to 
 go after her husband. ... In a holy and beautiful com- 
 munion she lives with her chosen one, but each walks 
 alone in a round of duties, and the days of union are the 
 Sabbaths of rest, the foretaste of a better life. Then will 
 they go forth to their work refreshed and strengthened. 
 They will surely seek to keep themselves pure, to aspire 
 after what is best, for the thought of the absent one will 
 be constantly present, and thus self will be, partially at 
 least, forgotten. . . . 
 
 "Far would I be from desiring to upset the ways 
 of the world, but at least I would desire that others 
 might differ. Surely married life too often becomes dull 
 and hard. People enter into close intercourse too suddenly. 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 75 
 
 We all know well enough that we are often disgusted 
 with ourselves, and in this light must we appear to 
 others ; therefore it is a great relief sometimes to hide 
 ourselves, so that we may wash off the stains and again 
 look bright, that we may think over our weaknesses, and 
 try to strengthen ourselves. 
 
 " Yes, and this holy love shall clothe our work and 
 common occupations with an atmosphere all golden. Then 
 shall we learn truly to pray, for we shall aspire, and it is 
 when we aspire, when we feel our weakness, that we pray. 
 And when the evening of life comes on, then may a mora 
 constant intercourse become desirable and attainable. The 
 head and the hand shall begin to grow weary of work, and 
 shall have earned a claim to repose. Or this closer inter- 
 course may be entered upon sooner, as circumstances permit 
 or inclination prompts. 
 
 " Some of these days perhaps I shall say this is all 
 nonsense and untrue, but at least I shall have recorded 
 that once I did thus dream of love, and that this dream 
 has helped me to live. ... I would not say that the being 
 who has called forth my affections, has made me wish to 
 live this spiritual life, is imaginary. No ; far from it. My 
 brother Arthur has been in a great measure all this 
 to me. . . . 
 
 " I wondered to hear Mr. Palgrave talk about women as 
 if only those like Lady Maria in Arthur's story were to be 
 admired. I don't much fancy men often understand 
 women ; they don't know how restless and weary they get. 
 Arthur was out nearly all of Monday and Tuesday. On 
 the latter day I went to Chelsea to fetch the cigar-case he 
 was to take for Mazzini, and was disappointed not to see 
 Carlyle. . . . 
 
J 6 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 " On Wednesday, after Arthur had left, I went to the 
 Boro' Eoad School, and from there with Miss M'Leod to 
 see the examination at the Poultry School, which was, on 
 the whole, nice, though stiff. The order was beautiful. 
 
 " In looking back on my London visit, it seems to me 
 that I feel myself much better fitted for holding inter- 
 course with the middle class and the poor. I don't get 
 on in a drawing-room. I have no jokes and no fun. I 
 have too much lead in my composition, and, moreover, 
 have very little power of expressing myself. I don't think 
 I shall ever go out much into company of the drawing- 
 room kind. I can get on respectably with other folk, 
 though I am slow with most people, and want Jane 
 Claude's fun and wit. ... I have been so accustomed to 
 conceal my thoughts, or veil them, that it has become a 
 habit, and I have almost ceased to give an opinion, except 
 about some of my own crotchets. ... It is a great pity, 
 in some respects, I did not take up teaching sooner. I 
 am getting old and stiff now, and I fear I shall never 
 be very quick about arithmetic. I have not sufficient 
 abstraction of thought for the mental part. However, I 
 have hopes that I should be able to manage a school at 
 least better than some." 
 
 This account of her time in London is the last entry 
 in the Journal which has been preserved. 
 
 While she was still away from home, Arthur accepted 
 the position of Principal of University Hall, London, and 
 as the work did not begin for some months, he took 
 this opportunity of going to Eome, where he was detained 
 for some months by the siege of the French, and where 
 he wrote his Amours de Voyage. In the reminiscences 
 before quoted, written after his death, Miss Clough says : 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 844- 1852 77 
 
 ' It appeared to me that the journey abroad, and his stay 
 among the works of art, had given him a greater amount 
 of taste, a stronger love of the beautiful, and a longing for 
 something superior to what he had been accustomed to. 
 And the desire was awakening in him for a home of his 
 own. The old home saw little of him after the settlement 
 at University Hall. Circumstances were floating him 
 away ; but he was ever faithful to those that remained in 
 it, and a shelter to them." 
 
 When he first settled in London, he discussed with his 
 mother and sister the desirability of their coming to live 
 with him at University Hall, but it seemed so doubtful 
 whether he would keep the post long, and so doubtful 
 also whether London would suit either of them, that the 
 plan was given up. He did, in fact, give up this work 
 two years afterwards, in 1851, and tried for a post at 
 Sydney, and while hoping to obtain this, became engaged 
 to be married. He was not, however, appointed, and in 
 1852 he accepted a suggestion made by Emerson, that he 
 should try his fortune in teaching and literary work in 
 America, and went out there in October of that year. 
 
 Daring the greater part of these two or three years, 
 Miss Clough had been occupied with another little school 
 of paying pupils. She started this to help her friend, Miss 
 Wotherspoon, whose marriage was delayed owing to her 
 father's business difficulties. Mrs. and Miss Clough invited 
 her to come and live with them, and try to earn enough 
 by teaching to enable her to marry, and with Miss Clough's 
 help she succeeded in doing this in the course of a year or 
 two. 
 
 Meanwhile, though they had given up the idea of going 
 to London, Mrs. Clough and her daughter had made up 
 
78 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 their minds to leave Liverpool, and were considering Amble- 
 side as a possible place in which to settle. 
 
 Miss Clough had often considered the desirability of 
 leaving Liverpool, where they had not now many friends, 
 and lately she had begun to be anxious about her mother's 
 health, for she had had a slight paralytic stroke, and her 
 daughter thought a quiet country place would suit her 
 better. 
 
 Ambleside had many attractions for them, for they had 
 been a good many times to that part of the country, and 
 had come to have a good number of pleasant friends and 
 acquaintances there. Miss Clough took immense pleasure 
 in the walks and sights of the Lake Country, and she 
 thought, too, that the village would give her the oppor- 
 tunities she needed for going on with her teaching work, 
 for, as she said, she could not live without teaching. 
 Accordingly, Ambleside was decided on, and they moved 
 there in the summer of 1852. 
 
 The extracts given from the Journal up to this time 
 have shown how much time and thought Miss Clough gave 
 to her teaching in various schools and classes and to her 
 intercourse with the school children ; but her ideas about 
 these things, and especially about Sunday school teaching, 
 are brought out more fully in some notes which she wrote 
 in the form of suggestions to other teachers, and also in 
 notes of actual lessons given to the children. These papers, 
 written probably about 1846, are interesting, quite apart 
 from Sunday school teaching, because she sets forth in 
 them feelings and beliefs which not only actuated her at 
 this time, but were active in her all her life, and influenced 
 all she did, and for this reason I give extracts from them 
 of some length. 
 
Life at Liverpool 1 844-1 852 79 
 
 She prefaces her suggestions thus : " It is usual for 
 people to speak of the great duty of engaging in the 
 instruction of the poor. Doubtless this is most true, and it 
 is from a sense of duty that very many at first enter on 
 this work, but I would rather speak of the great benefits 
 we may ourselves derive from this employment, of the 
 many holy thoughts and earnest aspirations after self- 
 improvement that are awakened by engaging in the in- 
 struction of others. Then it is perhaps that we first learn 
 to love our native land, and to desire heartily that its 
 people may grow up, not a curse or a shame to it, but 
 rather a blessing and a glory. Our family ties, our friend- 
 ships hardly teach us this, but it is when we are thrown 
 upon the simple connection or bond of being fellow country- 
 people, of speaking the same mother tongue, and living in 
 the same place, that we become truly national. We feel, 
 or at least many of us must do, that it is amidst the well- 
 known scenes of our native land, where the language, the 
 manners and customs of the people are familiar to us, that 
 we can best do a work, though it may be a very small one, 
 in building up what is good, and pulling down what is evil. 
 When these feelings have been aroused, then it is we feel 
 how unfit we are to accomplish what we desire, then we 
 become truly humble, and cry out from the bottom of our 
 hearts, Who is sufficient for these things ? 
 
 " We may, and should, earnestly study those we have to 
 teach, that we may know how to turn what is in them 
 to the best advantage. Christ was unwearied, we must be 
 unwearied too. Amidst difficulties and discouragements 
 we must continue steadfast. Surely, if we are allowed the 
 great happiness of endeavouring to do some little towards 
 furthering the coming of Christ's kingdom on earth, we 
 
80 Memoir of A line J. C lough 
 
 may be content though we see no fruit of our labours. 
 The great misery is to be obliged to sit idly by, while 
 wickedness and degradation grow rapidly around us. 
 Christ was full of love, and how can we be otherwise when 
 we find ourselves surrounded by young and helpless crea- 
 tures, whom it is in some measure in our power to lead in 
 the right way." 
 
 She goes on to consider the teaching, and writes : " The 
 day is a day of rest, and we should endeavour to make our 
 lessons pleasant and enlivening, though at the same time 
 they may tend to awaken a love of what is good and 
 holy." 
 
 We wish, she says, to inculcate kindness : " We must 
 begin by being kind ourselves. I, for my part, never 
 fancied I could get on with any child till I had learned 
 her name and knew some little about her family, etc. 
 The voice and the manner, everyone knows, have much 
 to do in gaining or losing a child's confidence, and when 
 this has once been gained, though even only slightly, a 
 great step has been made. Your children will soon learn 
 to love you, and surely this is a very important matter. 
 We can do little good till we have found the way into their 
 hearts, and how much easier and pleasanter it is for our- 
 selves when our feelings are engaged in the work. Another 
 very important thing is to teach them kindness to each 
 other. In fact, to have a little Christianity acted as well 
 as preached in our classes, and this may be done by incit- 
 ing the elder ones to help and take care of the younger 
 ones, and all to be ready to give up to each other, and not 
 to want to keep the best things for themselves." 
 
 She suggests that the elder girls should learn poetry 
 from " some of our good writers, which would tend to im- 
 
Life at Liverpool 1844-185 2 81 
 
 prove their taste and give them an interest in better kinds 
 of books. 
 
 " Many will say this is going too far. But can you go 
 too far in exciting a love and appreciation of goodness and 
 beauty ? When our servants learn to love and understand 
 these things, then with how much more grace and taste 
 shall we be served and shall all our household matters be 
 regulated. Then may we hope to see, at anyrate, less of 
 coarseness and meanness in our dependants, and surely 
 it is a great distress, a daily annoyance, to say the least, 
 to have those about us in the commonest domestic relations 
 who are guilty of any of these things. And, besides, what 
 right have we to set any bounds to the improvement 
 of others ? and be assured there is no need for it, there are 
 only, alas ! too few who will really care about higher things, 
 and let us not seek to stint their number and stop their 
 growth." 
 
 In conclusion, she writes : " One thing more I must 
 recommend, which is, Never, if possible, lose sight of your 
 scholars when they go from under your eye into the wide 
 world. The kind friendly greeting in the busy street 
 will warm their hearts, and surely some pretext in the 
 way of lending books or something of the sort may bring 
 you together now and then. Thus you may keep an 
 influence over your children, even into their maturer years, 
 and surely the knowledge that you possess such a power 
 will be an incitement to self -improvement, as strong to the 
 full, I conceive, as each mother must feel. . . . Much 
 do I rejoice that the teaching of the poorer children of our 
 country is in a great measure left open to the superintend- 
 ence of the women of England, and it behoves the higher 
 classes to do their best to make a good and wise use of 
 6 
 
82 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 this liberty, lest, if they neglect it, it may be taken from 
 them. We may do much if we will to improve the homes 
 of the rising generation, and let us not shrink from the 
 task because it is a difficult and sometimes, as we must 
 of course expect, a tedious one. Our hopes may often fail 
 us and our hearts be sad with disappointment, and we may 
 feel our spirits half crushed to the earth by the grievous 
 sights around us, but yet we will take courage, the struggle 
 we are engaged in is of God, not of man. In the end good 
 shall surely triumph, and though we may not live to see 
 any fruit of our labours, let us at least seek to deserve 
 the commendation bestowed upon Mary, ' She hath done 
 what she could.'" 
 
 The lessons she gave were eminently practical, and 
 bring out how clearly she realised the circumstances and 
 feelings of the children, but they also throw light on her 
 own views, for all that she teaches them is very real and 
 living to her too, and she tries to share with them those 
 ideas which have a special attraction for herself. 
 
 A friend who remembers her at this time bears witness 
 to these ideas of hers about teaching. She writes : " Miss 
 Clough encouraged me to begin to teach when almost a 
 child myself, and used to take me with her to the Sunday 
 school and the school treats, and I always remember her 
 advice to me to give the children ' plenty of story/ as they 
 were at school all the week and ought to have a little 
 pleasure on Sunday." The same friend writes : " The 
 feature which, as a child, I most remember in Miss Clough 
 was her strong love for children and her thoughtful kind- 
 ness to them." 
 
 She tells the children : " The grand thing is to be 
 earnest in following Christ's beautiful example and that 
 
Life at L iverpool 1 844- 1852 83 
 
 holy law which God has written in our hearts. Oh, learn 
 to read your own hearts, to hear and to follow quickly the 
 voice of your Heavenly Father who speaks to you there. 
 Louder and louder shall that still, small voice become, till 
 at last you shall continually hear it, sounding in your 
 ears, mostly gently, though most steadily, ' This is the 
 way, walk ye in it.' " Again, she says to them : " Don't 
 try to be thought the best child in the school or at home. 
 Try the most you can to be the best child, but do not 
 mind if it is not found out. God will always know and 
 remember when you try to do right, and He will send 
 beautiful happy thoughts into your mind, which will seem 
 like the soft wings of angels floating around you, and will 
 sound in your ears like the music of their golden harps. 
 Thus it is God rewards His children when they I fight 
 against their faults." 
 
CHAPTEK IV 
 
 LIFE AT AMBLESIDE 1852-1862 
 
 I have unfortunately been unable to discover any diaries 
 or letters belonging to the ten years during which Miss 
 Clough's home was at Ambleside, and all that can be known 
 of this time must be gathered from the recollections of 
 friends, and from allusions which she herself made to it in 
 later years, either in speaking or writing. 
 
 Ambleside, forty years ago, was of course very unlike 
 its present self. It had not then become a centre for 
 tourists and trippers, but was a regular village, and its 
 ordinary village life was hardly affected by the few visitors 
 who came to its one or two inns. 
 
 The Cloughs chose for their home a newly-built house 
 about three-quarters of a mile from the centre of the town, 
 up a steep hill called Eller Eigg, from which they named 
 it Eller How. It was then a bare place, with few trees 
 and few houses near, but it had a fine view along the side 
 of Wansfell and across Windermere. 
 
 There were an unusual number of interesting people 
 living in the neighbourhood at that time, and the Cloughs 
 had many friends among them. Miss Martineau's house 
 was not far from them when once they had reached the 
 bottom of their hill, and Miss Clough used to go there 
 pretty frequently, and saw a good deal of Miss Martineau's 
 nieces, who lived with her and spent themselves in her 
 
 84 
 
Life at Ambleside 1852-1862 85 
 
 service. Near Miss Martineau were Dr. Davy, a brother 
 of Sir Humphry Davy, and his wife, who was a daughter 
 of Mrs. Fletcher. At the other end of the village were 
 Miss Clough's intimate friends, Mrs. Claude and her 
 daughters. One of them was Miss Mary Claude, of whose 
 poems and stories Matthew Arnold wrote long after: 
 " The breath of Westmoreland blows through them. They 
 carry me back to the past days, when Westmoreland was 
 the Westmoreland of Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge 
 . . . when the authoress of these stories moved in her 
 youth and spirit and grace through that region, herself a 
 vision worthy of it." Mrs. Arnold and her daughters were 
 living at Foxhow, and at Grasmere there was Lady 
 Eichardson, wife of Sir John Eichardson, and another of 
 Mrs. Fletcher's daughters. And at Dove's Nest, on Win- 
 dermere, there was Mr. Eobert Perceval Graves, afterwards 
 sub-dean of the Chapel Eoyal at Dublin, and the biographer 
 of Sir William Eowan Hamilton. The Cloughs were more 
 or less acquainted with all of these, and some of them 
 were, or came to be, among Miss Clough's kindest and 
 most valued friends. There was another person who cannot 
 be omitted from any list of the notables of the district 
 Mrs. Nicholson, the postmistress of Ambleside, and the 
 mother of the village, the friend of Wordsworth and of the 
 Arnolds, and of everyone, distinguished or undistinguished, 
 in the country side. 
 
 Miss Clough took keen pleasure in the country and in 
 long walks on the mountains. Her Liverpool friends, 
 Miss Bulley, Miss Margaret Calder, and others, used to stay 
 with her sometimes, and share in her long tramps, and 
 occasionally she had her brother Arthur as a companion. 
 
 Arthur Clough had, as I have mentioned, gone to 
 
86 Memoir of Anne J . Clough 
 
 America soon after Miss Clough and her mother left 
 Liverpool. He returned to England in 1853, to take an 
 appointment which had been offered him in the Education 
 Office, and a few months later he married and settled in 
 London. His time after this was much taken up with his 
 work and other occupations, and he was not able to be 
 with his mother and sister as much as formerly, but he 
 came to them now and then, and Miss Clough visited him 
 and his wife occasionally in her school holidays, sometimes 
 alone and sometimes with her mother. He was still their 
 adviser on various matters, and was still, as Miss Clough 
 wrote, a shelter to them, and when his mother was ill, he 
 came down to Ambleside and insisted upon their employing 
 a trained nurse, because he thought his sister was being 
 worn out with nursing. 
 
 It is clear that as long as Mrs. Clough lived, her health 
 and comfort were, as it were, a first charge upon Miss 
 Clough's attention, to which her other interests and occu- 
 pations were subordinated. When they first went to 
 Ambleside, Mrs. Clough was in fair health, and able to join 
 in ordinary life, and enjoy seeing friends, and her daughter 
 had plenty of time for her own pursuits, but after a few 
 years she had a second stroke of paralysis, and became 
 quite helpless, and grew gradually worse till her death in 
 1860. Fortunately, when she became seriously ill, Miss 
 Clough was able to secure the help and companionship of a 
 friend, Miss Crofton, whom she had known in Liverpool, 
 and who now came to live with them. This lady was much 
 attached to both Mrs. Clough and her daughter, and was 
 a great comfort and support to them. 
 
 Miss Clough could not live without active work, and 
 before she had been long at Ambleside she found an occu- 
 
Life at Ambleside 1852-1862 8j 
 
 pation which became the chief interest of her life during 
 these years. She had at first thought of teaching in the 
 National Schools, as she had done at Liverpool, but she 
 found there were difficulties in the way, and therefore 
 looked about for another means of satisfying her thirst for 
 teaching. 
 
 Her first step was to collect a few pupils from the 
 families of her friends in the neighbourhood. These 
 children, one of whom was Mary Arnold, now Mrs. Hum- 
 phry Ward, came to live in the house with her. She 
 soon added to these some day-scholars from the village; 
 and after a short time she decided to establish a regular 
 school for the children of the tradespeople and farmers, 
 and went round with her friend, Mrs. Claude, to intro- 
 duce her to all the tradespeople who had children, and 
 asked them to send them to her to be taught. 
 
 The considerations which led her to take up this 
 branch of work are explained in a paper on Middle-Class 
 Education written in 1866 for the Schools Inquiry Com- 
 missioners. Speaking of this particular class of children, she 
 says : " The parents of these children especially need help : 
 they are willing to pay moderately, as they do not like 
 sending their children to charity schools ; and I think this 
 is a good feeling, and one to be encouraged. The gentry 
 and the clergy do not often help this class, they are occu- 
 pied with the really poor ; besides that, in this class there 
 are many Dissenters, and they are, as a whole, very inde- 
 pendent about their children, and not popular, for which 
 there may be some reason. They have neither time 
 nor knowledge enough themselves to set up schools for 
 their sons, much less for their daughters, so it frequently 
 happens that their whole families are neglected or ill- 
 
88 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 taught. It was the pathetic appeal of the mother of a 
 large family that induced me to try what I could do for 
 this class of children ; and though there were many diffi- 
 culties and some prejudices to be overcome, yet in the end 
 a measure of success was attained which was satisfactory, 
 and when I was unable to continue the school, some of the 
 parents took it up, and it is still going on under other 
 management." 
 
 This undertaking was not only an important element 
 in her life at this time, it had also great influence upon 
 her after career. For she acquired by means of it a 
 knowledge of the practical difficulties of school manage- 
 ment and of the needs and capacities of the children ; and 
 through her acquaintance with many of the parents she 
 learned to understand their point of view and their diffi- 
 culties also, all of which was of great value to her after- 
 wards. And this experience no doubt set her mind to 
 work on the question how middle-class education could be 
 helped and improved, and suggested to her possible changes, 
 some of which she afterwards brought forward and helped 
 to carry out. 
 
 There were, no doubt, as she said, difficulties and 
 prejudices to overcome. Some of these difficulties were 
 perhaps referred to in an article of hers on girls' schools 
 which appeared in Macmillan s Magazine for October 1866, 
 and which I shall have to speak of later. 
 
 After speaking of the difficulties of parents, she says : 
 " The position of the teachers, too, is often very painful. 
 They are poor themselves, struggling for subsistence the 
 parents are economical, and there is constant haggling 
 between the two. The schools are often small, and this 
 increases the difficulty. The children being of various 
 
Life at Ambleside 1 852-1862 89 
 
 ages, the labour of bringing them forward, even in a few 
 simple subjects, is excessive. There may be, perhaps, 
 some twelve or twenty children, from the ages of six to 
 sixteen two teachers, at most; and the parents mean- 
 while objecting to much expense with regard to books, and 
 therefore compelling cheap and small compendiums to be 
 used." 
 
 Though she was not quite in the position of the 
 unfortunate teachers here described, she had difficulties 
 with the parents sometimes; and she has told me how, 
 occasionally, some of them would come and scold her and 
 rate her, and how she learned not to mind it, and even to 
 be amused. This attitude was only one instance of her 
 tolerance of people's faults and failings, and her perception 
 of the circumstances which helped to produce them, and, 
 too, of that sense of humour in her which made them 
 easier to bear. 
 
 The school may perhaps have paid its expenses, but 
 it can never have done more while she had it. There 
 were latterly from twenty to thirty children a few boys 
 among them. The fees were thirty shillings a quarter; 
 and she had from the first the help of one or two masters, 
 and, at the end, of two resident English teachers. She her- 
 self taught in the school constantly. One of her subjects 
 was geography ; and one of the ladies who taught for her, 
 Miss Wilkinson (now Mrs. Katcliffe), tells me that she 
 used herself to like to listen to these lessons, for Miss 
 Clough made them so interesting by telling the children 
 about all the places she had been to herself. 
 
 This is quite intelligible to anyone who at any time 
 heard her talk about her travels; for, whether it was 
 Cornish rocks or Dutch towns that she described, her vivid 
 
90 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 recollection, and the amusement and interest which she got 
 out of every detail, made it impossible not to catch some 
 of her feeling. 
 
 She can hardly have been a good teacher, according to 
 modern standards ; for one thing, though she had worked 
 hard and read considerably, her education had been frag- 
 mentary and unsystematic, and she had little knowledge 
 which could be called thorough. Then, too, her mind was 
 not intellectually trained (perhaps it never could have 
 taken that kind of training), and she could never have 
 been methodical. But she was so deeply interested in 
 her pupils, and often in what she was teaching them, that 
 she could not help communicating herself and her ideas 
 to them in the course of her lessons. 
 
 Mrs. Fleming, formerly Miss Healey, who succeeded 
 Miss Clough in the management of the school, after 
 helping her in the teaching for rather more than a year, 
 has kindly given me some of her recollections of the school 
 and of Miss Clough, when she was at work there. 
 
 Mrs. Fleming writes : " It was in 1861 that I first 
 came to Ambleside to help Miss Clough in her school. 
 There were then about twenty day-scholars and two or 
 three boarders, the children chiefly of well-to-do shop- and 
 hotel-keepers, though some were from the families of 
 professional men ; they were from six to sixteen years of 
 age, the little boys remaining till about ten or eleven. 
 Miss Clough apparently took personal interest in each of 
 them, and was evidently regarded as a much-respected 
 friend. Was it due to the northern character or to Miss 
 Clough's influence, that they, to me at least, seemed a most 
 lovable set of children ? 
 
 " For the first three months of my time she was usually 
 
Life at Ambleside 1 852-1 862 91 
 
 in the schoolroom most of the morning" (Mrs. Fleming 
 came to Ambleside after Mrs. Clough's death), " and taught 
 the usual English subjects, handing over to me the arith- 
 metic (she once confessed to me that cancelling was an 
 utter mystery to her) and English grammar and analysis, 
 asking me to give class-lessons in general information, 
 simple science, etc., in the more modern way in which I 
 had been trained. 
 
 " The only extra subjects taught were French and 
 music, for which there were masters. Her own method 
 was for the children to prepare so many pages of English 
 history (Mrs. Markham), geography {Child's Guide), and to 
 be questioned on them by her next day, and, where the 
 subject allowed it, to be guided in reading further from 
 their text-books. Occasionally, when she could not make 
 them understand some question in physical geography 
 (winds, for example), she would openly turn to me and ask 
 if I could make the matter plain in a special object or 
 natural science lesson. I could not actually attend to her 
 lessons, as I was always teaching another class at the same 
 time; but I have often noticed the close interest with 
 which the girls, sitting round her in a half-circle, listened 
 to her description of other lands and people, seen during 
 her holiday excursions. 
 
 " It was in this way, and by reading to them, that she 
 brought her own cultured mind to bear upon them, and 
 won their love and respect. Then, too, many of them 
 from time to time stayed to midday dinner, especially in 
 wet weather, Eller How being some considerable distance 
 uphill, and then her gracious, gentle dignity was itself an 
 education, and she found time to inquire after dogs and 
 dolls with profoundest sympathy. Judged by modern 
 
92 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 methods, there was in the school a lack of order and dis- 
 cipline. The children were not punctual, and the girls in 
 the afternoon prepared for next day, sitting just where 
 they liked, and as they liked : the schoolroom at the time 
 was a perfect Babel girls, two and two, in all possible 
 places and attitudes ; but none of them at their own desks 
 where their books were kept, and all tongues going at 
 once. Then, too, there was, as far as I know, no general 
 time-table ; I had my own on a little slip of paper, and 
 each girl had hers, all being written out separately by Miss 
 Clough herself. 
 
 "When she was away in Italy on account of her 
 brother's illness, I had charge of the school, with authority 
 to make what changes I liked, especially with regard to 
 order. It was then that the girls acquired the habit, 
 before her return, of quiet work in the afternoon ; and this 
 she immediately noticed and acknowledged in her own 
 gracious way, asking me henceforth to take the discipline 
 of the school under my charge, adding, ' If I transgress, 
 you must call me to order.'" 
 
 Miss Clough's curious plan of writing out a time- 
 table for each individual, which Mrs. Fleming tells of, is a 
 very characteristic touch. She was extraordinarily wanting 
 in method ; but she unravelled many problems of organisa- 
 tion successfully, by means of her ingenuity, her memory, 
 and her persistence, and by an almost reckless expenditure 
 of her own time and trouble. 
 
 One of her old pupils tells me that general principles 
 and general information entered very much into her teach- 
 ing, and that she stimulated the children, and gave them 
 interests. This pupil told me also that when Miss Clough 
 had to go away and leave the school for a time, she wrote 
 
Life at Ambleside 1 852-1 862 93 
 
 a letter to the children, urging them above all to be kind 
 to each other. Another former pupil sends me the follow- 
 ing recollections : 
 
 " I was terribly frightened when I, a timid, shy little 
 girl, was first ushered into the schoolroom at Eller How, 
 and led forward to be introduced to its tall, stately 
 mistress, and the first glance I ventured to steal at her 
 did not greatly reassure me ; the dark eyes were keen and 
 searching, and the mouth, I thought, looked severe, and her 
 hair, too, was strange, silvery -white in front and sur- 
 mounted by a coronal of heavy black plaits. But my 
 doubts and fear were speedily laid to rest as a soft hand 
 drew me nearer, my curls were pushed back from my face, 
 and I saw the bright eyes soften as they met mine, and 
 the lips parted in a smile, and the gentle caress and low- 
 spoken welcome completed my capture and contentment. 
 Of course I did not know then that I had fallen in love 
 with my new preceptress, but I know that during the time 
 I was her pupil, I would have endured any other kind of 
 pain rather than that of incurring her displeasure, and 
 taken any kind of trouble to win her approval. Censure or 
 praise were but briefly expressed, but were none the less 
 bitter or sweet to the children who loved her. A flash of 
 the dark eyes, the deep, half-appealing tone of remon- 
 strance, ' Do not be so naughty,' ' Do pay more attention, 
 dear,' were generally sufficient to quell the rebellious, and 
 the kindly glance, the little pat on the arm, and the accent 
 of joy that sounded in her praise, ' You have been very 
 industrious,' ' You have done this very nicely,' raised some 
 of us at least into the seventh heaven for the day. I cannot 
 tell if all her pupils felt the same degree of reverence for 
 her, but I am sure we were all more or less influenced by 
 
94 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 the benign presence in our midst. No matter how noisy 
 and unruly we might be with the other teachers, the 
 moment the door of communication with the house opened, 
 quietness fell upon us like a mantle. She generally stood 
 for a few moments upon the threshold, looking down upon 
 her children, and every girl who met her glance must have 
 felt that she was specially singled out and individually 
 observed. 
 
 " I wonder if any band of girls ever studied in a 
 prettier environment, than we in our cosy schoolroom at 
 Eller How. One window looked out upon the Stock 
 Ghyll wood, and there were two or three trees which 
 almost touched the glass. The other looked straight on 
 to the beautiful lake and the green slopes and hills beyond. 
 Miss Clough herself never forgot these windows. . . . Our 
 education was of the heart, as well as of the mind. Miss 
 Clough never preached and seldom lectured, but she lived 
 her religion, which was nothing if not practical. Young 
 as I was at the time, I cannot fail, on looking back, to 
 recognise that her one steady aim was to put us in the way 
 of becoming useful, helpful women, able and willing when 
 the time came to take up our share of work in the world, 
 and to serve each other for the good of all. Nor was 
 our bodily health ever neglected ; indeed, we were inclined 
 to think she was too fidgety as to getting our feet wet, 
 our clothes damp, etc. We practised calisthenics every 
 day, and we had a romp in the garden when the weather 
 permitted. . . . How well I remember the day when, after 
 her sad journey to Italy [at her brother's death], she stood 
 again among us and counted up her children. Gravely, 
 but very lovingly, she called us up to her one by one, and 
 presented us with a little souvenir from the strange land 
 
Life at Ambleside 185 2-1 862 95 
 
 we read about in our histories, and drew maps of from 
 memory. " 
 
 Miss Emily Davies has kindly sent me a letter which 
 Miss Clough wrote to her in 1864, two years after she 
 gave up the school. In the course of it she says : " I 
 often wished that some direct instruction, in the form 
 perhaps of lectures, could have been given to my elder 
 girls on the uses and abuses of learning, the duties of life, 
 family arrangements, the advantages of combination, etc. 
 I constantly felt while I had my school that it was 
 badly done, and that I was not preparing the girls 
 sufficiently for life. I suppose we must all expect to work 
 rather in the dark. ... I always tried to get a good deal 
 of arithmetic taught, and that the children should acquire 
 facility in writing and composing. ... I think the school 
 was useful in bringing the children together and making 
 them friendly. . . . The parents took much interest in 
 the success of the school, and I have heard that several of 
 the children have been useful to the parents in their 
 business." 
 
 The school and the individual children were not only 
 a great interest and pleasure to Miss Clough, they were 
 her chief solace and support during what was evidently a 
 trying period of her life. Her mother's long illness in the 
 first place was exceedingly distressing to her, and must 
 latterly have been a great strain upon her health. She 
 told me once that she owed much at this time to the 
 friend who lived with her, for sometimes, when things 
 seemed more than she could bear, Miss Crofton braced her 
 with wholesome severity, and compelled her to keep up 
 her courage and go forward. She seems to have suffered 
 much from loneliness, and, in spite of her love for the 
 
96 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 country, this life on a remote hill-top was too narrow and 
 cramped for a person of her temperament. She was now 
 well over thirty, she was full of aspirations and of pent-up 
 energy, and it is clear from some of her brother's letters 
 that she had for years ardently longed for greater scope for 
 her activities, for the opportunity of giving practical shape to 
 the ideas which were always seething in her mind. Long 
 after this, in speaking of the many new openings for women, 
 she referred more than once to the women who in earlier 
 years had longed for these opportunities and suffered for 
 want of them. Some of them, she said, had been stirred 
 by the awakening of thought around them, by the new 
 interest in social reform, and " they grew restless, they 
 were like caged birds, with their strong passions intensified 
 by the want of action," and it was evident that these things 
 were made vivid to her by her own experience. It is 
 quite possible that it was only during part of her stay at 
 Ambleside that Miss Clough felt her life hard and dreary ; 
 but it is certain that, in spite of many friends to whom 
 she was warmly attached, and of other pleasant things, she 
 looked back upon this time as one of much painful 
 experience. She was very reserved, and did not talk either 
 of her thoughts and aspirations or of her troubles, but her 
 friend, Miss Claude, said to me that " her dark eyes made 
 you feel that there was a great deal behind," and, even 
 before her mother's illness, one or two other friends per- 
 ceived that she was not happy. 
 
 Those who knew Miss Clough at this time speak, as 
 those who knew her at all times of her life were apt to 
 do, first of all, and above all, of her kindness. This 
 quality is usually mentioned when there is nothing 
 else to say for a person, but in her case it comes first, 
 
Life at Ambleside 185 2-1 862 97 
 
 because her kindness attracted the attention of everyone 
 who came into contact with her : it was so obvious that it 
 seemed the most remarkable part of her character. Other 
 qualities, which were not unimportant, were curiously 
 hidden away, and only gradually discovered by close ob- 
 servation. 
 
 She was not merely passively amiable or good-natured, 
 she took a keen, active interest in the welfare of every- 
 one she was thrown with, and often thought about their 
 affairs and the possibilities of their lives more than they 
 did themselves. 
 
 She showed this interest at Ambleside, not only in her 
 pupils, but in their families, and in her teachers and her 
 neighbours. I am told that she used to give parties every 
 now and then for those who lived near in the cottages on 
 the hill, and that when she went away she used to bring 
 back appropriate presents for each of the children. 
 
 She could hardly walk through a place, much less live 
 in it, without thinking of its needs and of possible practical 
 improvements, and therefore, as soon as she had any money 
 to spare, she had plenty of uses ready for it. Shortly 
 before Mrs. Clough's death, her only brother, William 
 Perfect, died, and left her a considerable sum of money, and 
 therefore, when Mrs. Clough herself died, Miss Clough 
 found herself in possession of a larger income than was 
 required to provide for her own needs. This enabled her 
 to carry out various undertakings which she had at heart, 
 and among other things to set going one notable piece of 
 work in Ambleside. There was there a free school for 
 boys, built and endowed by the will of John Kelsick in 
 1723, but the building, when Miss Clough was at Amble- 
 side, had become dilapidated, and was much too small for 
 7 
 
98 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 the number of boys who attended it. In the autumn of 
 1860 Miss Clough consulted her friend Mr. Graves, and in 
 consequence he wrote a letter to the trustees of the 
 Kelsick School which began with the following statement : 
 " A lady, who feels an interest in the progress of education 
 in Ambleside, has for some time back been painfully 
 impressed with the inadequate size and deficient ventilation 
 of the free school at Ambleside, evils which she is con- 
 vinced are seriously injurious to the health of both master 
 and scholars, and to which no remedy is applicable short 
 of a new schoolhouse." The letter then went on to say 
 that this lady offered 200, if the trustees could arrange to 
 erect a suitable new building. The offer was accepted, and 
 after the usual necessary delays, a new school was built. 
 Miss Clough took a keen interest in the building, and 
 when the plans were being discussed, she, after consulta- 
 tion with the schoolmaster, Mr. Barton, pressed certain 
 alterations on the trustees, and offered an additional 
 20 to meet the increased cost her friend, Miss Claude, 
 supporting her with a further subscription. 
 
 It is worth mentioning that the building of this new 
 school was made the occasion for using a sum of money, 
 subscribed in memory of Wordsworth, to build a small 
 library, dedicated to him, under the same roof with the 
 school. 
 
 This was one successful undertaking, but, as one of her 
 friends in the village told me, she helped many in Amble- 
 side privately. 
 
 In describing her at this time, her friends say that she 
 had a low voice, and usually a gentle, rather hesitating 
 manner. She seems to have been still awkward, and 
 wanting in facility in talk and intercourse ; and I am told 
 
Life at Ambleside 1 852-1 862 99 
 
 that she was not so tall and dignified as her mother (" Mrs. 
 Clough had more bearing"), nor so handsome as Mrs. 
 Clough was even at this time. 
 
 Her manner sometimes gave an idea of weakness and 
 indecision, which was entirely misleading. She had already 
 for some time been the ruling spirit of the house, and 
 though her mother was not old x when they went to 
 Ambleside, it was Anne who decided on the move, and 
 who chose the place to come to. Mrs. Clough described 
 her as " always a wilful girl," and an old friend and former 
 servant, who lived with the Cloughs during all their 
 time at Ambleside, said to me, " Miss Clough must always 
 have her way, but it was a good way." Both then and 
 later it was remarked of her, that she often asked for 
 other people's opinions, but she always followed her own. 
 
 Mrs. Clough died in the summer of 1860. Miss 
 Clough went to her relations and then abroad for a rest, 
 but she returned to work at the school, apparently with no 
 intention of giving it up, and with her head full of schemes 
 for the benefit of the place. 
 
 But all her plans were changed by the death of her 
 brother Arthur in the autumn of the next year, 1861. 
 He had been out of health for some time, and had been 
 obliged to leave his work and spend the greater part of 
 that year abroad. In October he became seriously ill 
 while travelling with his wife in Italy, and early in 
 November Miss Clough was summoned to Florence, where 
 she arrived three days before his death. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add anything to what has 
 been already said as to Miss Clough's affection for her 
 brother, and the place which he had filled in her life. She 
 
 1 Mrs. Clough was born in 1796. 
 
i oo Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 wrote to a friend a few weeks after his death that it was 
 " the closing in of my most cherished hopes, which were 
 born in the early dawn of my life, and which I have fed 
 upon ever since. I have waited listening for him to speak, 
 to utter thoughts that he had been pondering over during 
 his life, but not idly, for his life, his work in life, has been 
 the beautiful expression of his thoughts, and surely they 
 have borne fruit. . . . And though the grave has closed 
 upon him so early, yet do I believe that in secret, unknown 
 places the foundation-stones of much that is wise and good 
 are still left standing that he has laid, and let us hope that 
 some of his friends, some that knew him and loved him, 
 may yet build up some goodly structures thereon. So do I 
 hope, . . . and there is yet some joy left for me in life, 
 something I may still seek to attain." 
 
 This shock, following on years of work and trouble, which 
 had tried her very much, shook Miss Clough's health con- 
 siderably, and doctors and friends urged her to give up her 
 school. She agreed to do this, but with many regrets. 
 
 She wrote in December 1861 to one of her aunts: 
 " I hope to visit Llwyn Offa [her brother Charles's house 
 near Chester] on my way home, but I don't feel very 
 strong, and the thought that I shall probably have to give 
 up my beloved school before long rather upsets me. I 
 never did like moving, and ten years have created many 
 ties, but I quite think it will be for the best. Dr. Wilson 
 says I had better lead a quiet life, and not over-exert 
 myself mentally for a while, and it seems to me I should 
 be unwise not to follow his advice." 
 
 Accordingly, she decided to give up the school and her 
 Ambleside house, and to come to the south of England to 
 be with her sister-in-law. 
 
Life at Ambleside 1852-1862 101 
 
 Mrs. Arthur Clough had gone to live for the present 
 chiefly with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Smith, at 
 their house, Combe Hurst, near Kingston-on-Thames. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Smith pressed Miss Clough to make her home 
 there too, and she was glad to accept their offer to be 
 with her sister-in-law and her children. But she was of 
 course obliged to go back first to Ambleside and arrange 
 matters there. 
 
 She was most anxious that the school should go on, for 
 she believed that it was of great value to the place, but in 
 order to bring this about it was necessary that some 
 arrangement should be made which the parents would 
 approve and support. Mr. Graves, who was most kind in 
 helping her, had met and consulted the parents before her 
 return, and she herself saw and talked with them as soon 
 as she got back. It was finally agreed that Mrs. Fleming 
 should take the management of the school, and, in order 
 to provide the necessary capital, Miss Clough proposed that 
 the parents should subscribe small sums of 10 or 15 
 each, to be gradually repaid out of the fees. The scheme, 
 which seems like a hint of the modern plan of local 
 shareholders in the Girls' Public Day School Company, 
 was carried out, but it has to be confessed that it was 
 not found a convenient one, and after two years it was 
 changed for something simpler. Mrs. Fleming tells me 
 that when Miss Clough found some other plan was really 
 necessary, she cheerfully undertook to manage it all, and 
 went herself to each of the parents to explain matters and 
 return the sums lent. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that this school still exists, 
 and, after going through a period in which it was almost 
 entirely a boarding school, is now again chiefly a day school 
 
102 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 for Ambleside. It remained in Mrs. Fleming's hands till 
 she gave it up in 1894, and it still continues under 
 another head. 
 
 Miss Clough remained at Ambleside for three months, 
 and carried on the school till the new arrangements were 
 completed. Then, in April 1862, she gave up her house, 
 and left Ambleside for Combe Hurst. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 LIFE AT COMBE HURST EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE 
 
 NORTH 1862-1871 
 
 From this time till she went to Cambridge in 1871, Miss 
 Clough had no separate home of her own, and for the first 
 four years she undertook no definite occupation. She was 
 for several months in the year at Combe Hurst, and for 
 some months at Mrs. Arthur Clough's house in London ; 
 the rest of the year was spent with other relatives and 
 friends in different parts of the country. 
 
 Combe Hurst was a pleasant house, pleasantly placed 
 in Combe Wood, and not far from Richmond Park and 
 Wimbledon Common. Miss Clough found many friends 
 here. She and her sister-in-law had naturally been drawn 
 very closely together by her brother's death, and with her 
 Miss Clough was from this time on the intimate and 
 affectionate terms of a sister. Mrs. Clough's sisters and 
 brother were much at Combe Hurst, and Miss Clough 
 became intimate both with them and with their cousins, 
 the Bonham Carters. She stayed frequently with Mrs. 
 Bonham Carter at her house in Kent, and found congenial 
 friends in the three Miss Bonham Carters who were then 
 living at home. Combe Hurst was so near London that 
 friends came often from there, and among them many 
 interesting people. Miss Clough's diary mentions, among 
 others, Dr. Temple (now Archbishop of Canterbury), Dr. 
 
 103 
 
1 04 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 Jowett (afterwards Master of Balliol), Mr. W. R Greg, 
 and Mr. J. A. Symonds. 
 
 The months spent in London gave her still further 
 opportunities of seeing people and hearing anything of 
 interest that was being talked of, and gave her also the 
 chance of seeing pictures, which was always one of her 
 greatest pleasures. It was a different life from any she 
 had hitherto led, and was in particular a great change 
 from her laborious and secluded years at Ambleside. 
 
 There were plenty of intervals in which she stayed 
 quietly at Combe Hurst with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and 
 their family, and she was not unfrequently alone there 
 with her nephews and nieces. The idea that she could 
 help in the care and education of the children was no 
 doubt one of the reasons which led her to make her home 
 with Mrs. Arthur Clough. She would perhaps hardly 
 have thought it right to accept Mr. and Mrs. Smith's 
 invitation if she had not felt that she could be of use 
 in this way, and she did, as a fact, give a great deal of 
 help. I find in her diary many entries such as, " Walked 
 with the children," "Went with the children to their 
 French class," and at one time she taught them regularly. 
 A great deal of her time was spent on her friends, both old 
 and new. The way in which she kept hold of old friends 
 was very remarkable, and the freshness and strength of 
 her interest in all that concerned them. One striking 
 instance of this was her long-continued intercourse with 
 her Charleston friend, Mrs. Bacot. They parted in 1836, 
 when the Cloughs left Charleston, but they corresponded 
 without any long interval till Miss Clough's death in 
 1892. There were a large number of people at Amble- 
 side in whom she was keenly interested ; and behind them, 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 105 
 
 as it were, her Liverpool friends, and then again her 
 relations in Wales and elsewhere, For many years she 
 went every year to Ambleside for some weeks, and 
 visited all her old friends and the school, and had her 
 old pupils to tea, and interested herself in all that was 
 going on. One of her old pupils tells me that when, 
 some years after Miss Clough left Ambleside, it was 
 thought well for her to go to school away from home, it 
 was Miss Clough who was consulted, and who chose the 
 school at Liverpool to which she went. 
 
 She made these visits to Ambleside an occasion for 
 organising expeditions in that country, and getting some 
 of her Liverpool friends and some of her old pupils to 
 join her. So, too, now that London was easily accessible 
 to her, she invited her friends from a distance to come to 
 her there, and was most zealous and energetic in taking 
 them to everything of interest. Her two remaining aunts, 
 the Miss Cloughs, were now living at Bournemouth, and 
 she went to them every year, and at least once a year she 
 went to her brother Charles and his wife. They had now 
 a large family, in whom she was naturally much interested, 
 and she made herself useful to them whenever she could. 
 At one time she would take some of the children to the 
 sea, and at another have one or two of them with her at 
 the Lakes ; and she helped as far as possible in the matter 
 of their education. 
 
 One friend who was a great deal in her mind was 
 Mrs. Migault, her chief intimate in her Liverpool days. 
 She married just before the Cloughs left Liverpool, and 
 was now living in Germany with her husband and children, 
 but she still looked constantly to Miss Clough for sym- 
 pathy and for help whenever difficulties arose. Miss 
 
1 06 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Clough went to see her at intervals until Mrs. Migault's 
 death, always making this visit the first step in the 
 occasional expeditions abroad which were among her 
 greatest pleasures. Another friend whom she watched over 
 at this time, and for many years, was Miss Crofton, who 
 had lived with her and her mother at Ambleside. Miss 
 Clough now persuaded her to come and live near Combe 
 Hurst, where she could constantly see her and care for her, 
 and when, ten years later, she found herself permanently 
 settled at Cambridge, she brought her old friend there too, 
 and kept her with her till Miss Crofton's death. 
 
 Miss Alice Bonham Carter tells me that at this time 
 Miss Clough used to take but little part in general conversa- 
 tion, and kept rather in the background, but that there 
 was a serenity in her manner and a suggestion of power 
 about her which impressed people. Mr. Symonds remarked 
 of her about this time that it was difficult to talk to her, 
 because she usually seemed to slip out of the conversation, 
 but that if the talk turned on educational matters, it was 
 at once clear that she was on her own ground. 
 
 But in spite of friends and family and other interests, 
 this was not an entirely satisfactory time to Miss Clough, 
 though it was a much-needed rest, and she herself said 
 afterwards that it had been a good thing for her to lie 
 fallow for a time. Her presence was welcome and valued 
 where she was, but she could not feel that there was any 
 real need of her. The children had, after all, plenty of 
 people to look after them, and there was not much to be 
 done for them then. 
 
 Her mind was possessed by the consciousness that 
 much needed doing in the world, and that many things 
 could be done. Her thoughts were always busy with 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 107 
 
 schemes, many of them quite unambitious schemes of 
 practical usefulness ; and it was difficult for her to repress 
 her eager longing to be at work upon some of them, and to 
 be content with comparative idleness after so many years 
 of incessant activity. Among those of her friends who 
 sympathised warmly with her wishes and hopes was Mrs. 
 Samuel Smith, who was always ready to enter into ideas 
 and aims of a higher or wider range than those of 
 ordinary people. Mrs. Smith was for many years the 
 close friend and constant supporter of her niece, Florence 
 Nightingale, and had gone out to Scutari to be with her 
 during the last year of the war. Miss Clough recalled 
 this long after, when speaking at Newnham of all that 
 had been done by the women of an older generation, and 
 added that in later times " this noble lady " had also 
 encouraged those who were working for the advancement 
 of education, and " had bid them go on and not be afraid." 
 Though her schemes were not all educational, and she 
 was ready to turn her hand to other things if opportunity 
 offered, education in one form or another was what she 
 had most at heart, and it was to education that she looked 
 for the remedy for many evils. In these years of com- 
 parative leisure she had time to think much about the 
 matter and to add to her information, and she had the 
 opportunity of meeting others who were interested in it 
 and had made a study of the question. Among these 
 were Miss Emily Davies and Miss Bostock, who were at 
 this time actively at work on schemes for the improvement 
 of the education of girls in the upper and middle classes. 
 Miss Clough also became acquainted at this time with 
 Madame Bodichon, who was a niece of Mr. Samuel Smith, 
 and was a keen supporter of the college for women which 
 
i oB Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 Miss Davies already had in view. Before long, also, Miss 
 Clough came to know Miss Buss, and she visited and warmly 
 admired her school, already a large and successful one. 
 Miss Clough's work at Ambleside had turned her attention 
 particularly to the educational needs of the middle classes, 
 and had suggested many ideas to her, and her experience 
 there gave her views weight with those who were interested 
 in this particular branch of the question. 
 
 The movement for obtaining improved education for 
 girls had now been in progress for some years, and import- 
 ant steps had already been taken. Queen's College was 
 founded by the Governesses' Benevolent Institution in 
 1848, with the help of F. D. Maurice (who became its 
 first Principal) and of other professors of King's College, 
 and received a Eoyal Charter of Incorporation ; and in 
 1849 Bedford College was founded by Mrs. Eeid and 
 Miss Bostock. Miss Buss's school, which introduced a 
 wholly new standard for the education of girls, was opened 
 in 1850 ; Cheltenham College was founded in 1853, and 
 after 1858, when Miss Beale became Principal, grew 
 rapidly in size, and acquired a position of much import- 
 ance. 
 
 In 1856 Miss Jessie Meriton White had applied to 
 the University of London for permission to present herself 
 as a candidate for a medical diploma, but the Senate had 
 then replied that they had not power to grant her request. 
 In 1862 Miss Elizabeth Garrett applied to be admitted to 
 the matriculation examination, and was refused on the 
 same grounds. Miss Garrett's father, Mr. Newson Garrett, 
 then presented a memorial to the Senate, asking that a 
 modification might be introduced into the Charter of the 
 University which would remove the legal objection to the 
 
MISS CLOUGH. 
 
 ' Portrait painted, for Newnham Collipe. oy J.J.Shannsn.ARA. 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 109 
 
 admission of women to its privileges ; but after considera- 
 tion, the Senate refused this request also, though the 
 motion in favour of it was lost only by the casting vote 
 of the Chancellor, Lord Granville. 
 
 The interest aroused by this effort led to the formation 
 of a London committee, of which Miss Emily Davies was 
 a leading member, to work for the admission of women to 
 University examinations. 
 
 Cambridge University had, in 1858, instituted local 
 examinations for boys, and in 1863 the London committee 
 applied to the Syndicate in charge of these examinations 
 to allow girls to be examined on the papers set for the 
 boys. The Syndicate agreed to provide the papers and to 
 permit the committee to arrange with the examiners. The 
 experiment was successfully carried, out, with the cordial 
 co-operation of the University examiners, and in 1864 a 
 largely-signed memorial was sent to the Senate of Cam- 
 bridge University, asking that the system of local examina- 
 tions for boys might be opened to girls. In 1865 the 
 Senate agreed that this should be done for a period of 
 three years, and at the end of that time the arrangement 
 was made permanent. The opening to girls of a reliable 
 examination of high character was of the greatest possible 
 value, and had a most beneficial effect upon girls' education 
 generally ; and the connection thus established with 
 Cambridge University was the first step in a path which 
 led to results of great importance. 
 
 Miss Davies' work in connection with these examina- 
 tions brought her into communication with a number of 
 schoolmistresses in London, and it was at her suggestion 
 and with her help that a society of schoolmistresses was 
 formed in London early in 1866. Miss Clough was present 
 
no Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 at a meeting held a few months later, at which this Society 
 took formal shape as the London Schoolmistresses' Associa- 
 tion. The example thus set was soon followed by Man- 
 chester and other towns, and Miss Clough shortly after- 
 wards organised a similar association at Liverpool. These 
 organisations proved valuable and accomplished much 
 useful work. Miss Clough afterwards wrote of them as 
 follows : " At their meetings the mistresses planned and 
 took counsel together and gave mutual help. They learned 
 to combine ; they were no longer alone, each in her own 
 small sphere, which had been dull and monotonous ; they 
 were now becoming part of a system, and were gathering 
 strength. . . . Their union has certainly given them 
 strength and dignity, and their life has been altered by it. 
 The fact that the University of Cambridge had shown an 
 interest in girls' education by admitting girls to the local 
 examinations was a great boon to them ; it was a bond of 
 union, and it was something to work for." 
 
 In 1864 a Eoyal Commission, known as the Schools 
 Inquiry Commission, was issued for inquiring into the 
 education of schools not included in former commissions, 
 and also for considering and reporting what measures, if 
 any, were required for the improvement of such education, 
 having especial regard to all endowments applicable, or 
 which could rightly be made applicable, thereto. Miss 
 Davies and Miss Bostock together drew up and circulated 
 a memorial to the Commissioners, asking that the education 
 of girls might be included in the scope of their inquiry. 
 The memorial was signed by a large number of persons 
 connected with, or interested in, the education of girls of 
 the upper and middle classes, and by Miss Clough among 
 others. The Commissioners decided that they had the 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 1 1 1 
 
 necessary powers, and agreed to comply with the request 
 of the memorialists. 
 
 It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance 
 of the point thus gained. The reports of the Assistant 
 Commissioners threw a flood of light upon the unsatisfactory 
 condition of girls' education, and the Commission in their 
 general report spoke emphatically of the gravity of the 
 question, and set forth the need of reforms. They further 
 laid down the principle of the full participation of girls in 
 educational endowments, and they expressed their cordial 
 approval of the aims of those who were endeavouring to 
 provide opportunities of higher education for women. 
 After the publication of the Eeport in 1869, those who 
 desired reforms in women's education could work with the 
 weight of authority behind them, and could point to the 
 facts brought out by the Commission, and to the opinions 
 expressed concerning them by undeniably competent judges, 
 as plain proofs of the need of reform. 
 
 Miss Clough was keenly interested in the work of 
 the Commission, and early in 1866 she wrote and sent to 
 the Commissioners a paper, giving her personal experience 
 of the inefficiency of middle-class girls' schools, and sug- 
 gesting remedies. In October, the substance of this paper 
 was published in Macmillan's Magazine under the title of 
 " Hints on the Organisation of Girls' Schools." 
 
 A considerable part of this article is concerned with 
 schemes which were never carried out, and were superseded 
 by other plans for attaining the same end, but it contains 
 some suggestions which led to important results, and it sets 
 forth certain considerations which appealed particularly to 
 Miss Clough, and which influenced much of her educational 
 work. For these reasons, though I have already quoted 
 
H2 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 from it in describing her life at Ambleside (p. 87), I give 
 here further extracts of some length. 
 
 It begins by describing the existing state of things. 
 
 " In our large towns the majority of the tradespeople 
 and respectable families, with incomes varying from 100 
 to 300 a year, prefer sending their children to day- 
 schools ; but it is most difficult for them to find any such 
 schools that are really good. They are generally kept by 
 a very inferior class of people, though no doubt there are 
 many noble exceptions. There is, moreover, no standard 
 set up for such schools, and the parents have no means of 
 testing the capabilities of the teachers." 
 
 Then follows the passage already quoted as to the 
 difficulties of the teachers and managers of schools. She 
 continues : " A few dry facts are taught, but the life and 
 spirit are too often left out, and there is a monotony in 
 girls' education which is very dulling to the intellect. The 
 requirements in these schools are a little French and 
 music, reading, writing, and arithmetic, geography, grammar, 
 and history, but these are seldom taught thoroughly or in 
 a way to excite much interest, usually not so well as in the 
 national schools, and the minds of the pupils are frequently 
 left idle and without discipline. Though girls are generally 
 employed for longer hours than boys, yet habits of close 
 attention and accuracy are seldom acquired." 
 
 Again, as to a higher class of schools : " In these the 
 same defect is usually found they are too small ; the same 
 difficulties arise each class must consist of a very few 
 girls, and a great many classes lead to a loss of power. A 
 superior teacher being engaged for two or three pupils, 
 the expense is excessive ; the teacher is less earnest and 
 energetic with his small class than he would be with a 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 113 
 
 large one ; and there is less chance that there should be one 
 or two intelligent pupils, who, by entering into his mind 
 and profiting by his instructions, might give him increasing 
 power, as sympathy always does. . . . We are very ready 
 to allow that these establishments are often excellent, but 
 they are so expensive that it is impossible for parents 
 with moderate means to make much use of them, and it is 
 most difficult to conduct them economically." As to 
 education under governesses at home : " This may be very 
 good, and, no doubt, often is so, especially when the help 
 of good masters is added, which, of course, renders it very 
 expensive. But, in a general way, when the pupils are 
 solely taught by even a first-class governess, education 
 becomes, as girls grow older, exceedingly wearisome. There 
 is the same objection that one individual is engaged to 
 instruct children of different ages in a great many subjects. 
 There are fewer appliances for study and more distractions 
 than at school : there is a want of the excitement and 
 interest created by companions and variety of teachers, 
 joined to the deficiency of system, for among governesses 
 many begin without much experience ; nor are they in a good 
 position for gaining it, since they have no opportunity for 
 comparing themselves with other teachers, and thus obtain- 
 ing useful hints." 
 
 As to more advanced work, she remarks : " As yet but 
 few public institutions have been established where women 
 could pursue higher studies under good guidance. The 
 Ladies' Colleges in London and Cheltenham are opening 
 out a path in this direction, but their means are limited, 
 and it is difficult, indeed nearly impossible, to produce any 
 great results without a considerable outlay." 
 
 The following remedies are proposed : First, that an 
 8 
 
1 1 4 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 educational board, partly composed of members of the 
 Universities, should be appointed by Government to 
 supervise female education. Secondly, that central day 
 schools, with good buildings, should be set up in each 
 town or district, and that private schools should be invited 
 to combine with the central schools for classes in certain 
 subjects, and to take advantage of their libraries, play- 
 grounds, etc., thus making it possible to get well-paid and 
 efficient teachers, and other advantages, while variety of 
 methods, and the individual attention and personal in- 
 fluence of a small school is retained. Finally, that in 
 large towns, a series of lectures on higher subjects should 
 be given to the older pupils of a number of schools. 
 
 As to this last proposal the article continues "In 
 large towns some twenty or twenty-five lectures might, in 
 the course of three months, be delivered by one professor 
 to a number of schools, collected in groups according to 
 situation. The duration of these lectures might, at first, 
 be limited to a period of three months in the year this 
 by way of experiment, and as a means of creating a taste 
 for higher studies and collective instruction. These 
 lectures would be for older pupils. ... A system of this 
 kind would be an immense help to teachers, and an en- 
 livenment to pupils. It would be the means of bringing 
 both the teachers and the taught under the influence of 
 superior men, who would probably be led to take a greater 
 interest in female education with such increased oppor- 
 tunities of knowing something about it, and using their 
 influence in directing it. Some intercourse with University 
 men, who carry on the highest education in the country, 
 would be a great boon to many teachers who are doing 
 their best under great difficulties. In carrying out our 
 
Life at Combe Hurst 115 
 
 plan, the sanction and help of a high authority would be 
 especially valuable, whether Government or the Universi- 
 ties. In default of these we must come to an association 
 or proprietary body, or else to a municipality ; but, in any 
 case, some recognition from those who rule, whether in the 
 country or at the Universities, would greatly facilitate the 
 success of all endeavours to get the services of superior 
 men. The undertaking of such work might be felt a 
 condescension on the part of highly-educated men, unless 
 it could be, in some way, connected with Government or 
 the Universities. 
 
 " We will venture a step further, and suggest that, if 
 these preliminary lectures should succeed and become 
 popular, they might be extended. The range of subjects 
 now taught in the Ladies' Colleges could be enlarged, and 
 lectures and instruction of a higher and more advanced 
 character might be given, thus offering to the thoughtful 
 of riper years, who had made good use of their early 
 training, an opportunity of continuing their studies. We 
 believe many who are now deterred from such pursuits by 
 the want of guidance and companionship, would gladly 
 avail themselves of advantages of this description. 
 
 " Not improbably, as years go on, many new paths of 
 useful occupation may be opened to women ; even now 
 there are some who have cause to lament their want of 
 training, and find it a hindrance in what they undertake. 
 
 " If these suggestions should be carried out, the present 
 race of teachers would not be driven from the field, but, on 
 the contrary, be assisted; and many who, though gifted 
 with superior refinement and cultivation, are wanting in 
 educational training, would be enabled conscientiously to 
 take a part in these institutions. As superintendents and 
 
n6 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 managers of details, ladies of this class would be eminently 
 valuable. Most important, indeed, would their position be, 
 for, on the efficient fulfilment of its duties, fully as much 
 as on the learning and high character of the teachers, the 
 success of these undertakings would depend." 
 
 It is interesting to notice, in connection with Miss 
 Clough's later work, that already in this paper she 
 expresses the hope that female education may come under 
 the direction of the Universities, and the desire to get a 
 chance for more advanced study for elder women. She 
 clearly refers to her own feelings and her own experience 
 when she writes : " Even now there are some who have 
 cause to lament their want of training, and find it a 
 hindrance in what they undertake." The article shows 
 also a desire to prevent monotony, and to make the 
 teaching interesting both to teacher and pupils, and a 
 wish to make use, as far as possible, of institutions and 
 individuals already at work, which are both characteristic 
 of her aims and methods. 
 
 By this time Miss Clough had clearly made up her 
 mind to try and find some active occupation, and in the 
 autumn of 1866, after this article had appeared, she 
 determined to see what she could herself do to get some 
 of her plans carried out. She decided to go to Liverpool, 
 for, as she said, she had a general acquaintance with the 
 place, and knew to whom to apply ; and she provided 
 herself with letters of introduction to some of the 
 principal inhabitants, who, she hoped, would take up her 
 suggestions. 
 
 Her first idea was to form an association of managers 
 of schools and others, and she drew up a scheme for this. 
 This association was to arrange for classes taught by 
 
Educational Work in the North 1 1 7 
 
 better paid teachers, lectures for older pupils in schools 
 and ladies from private families, lectures on teaching, 
 drilling classes, and a library for the associated schools. 
 But she evidently found that the only part of this for 
 which there was any hope at present, was the plan of 
 lectures for the elder schoolgirls and others, and accordingly 
 she set to work on that. 
 
 Among her letters of introduction was one to Mrs. 
 Josephine Butler, who was then living in Liverpool, Mr. 
 Butler being at that time Principal of Liverpool College, 
 and she, Miss Clough said, " at once gave me sympathy and 
 encouragement." There were others who were interested 
 in the proposal, and ready to take trouble, and a small 
 committee was formed, with Miss Clough as secretary. 
 
 She spent two anxious and laborious months in Liver- 
 pool, visiting people who might be interested, and trying 
 to arrange that a course of lectures should be given there 
 that winter by someone from one of the Universities. 
 But in the end the plan had to be dropped for a time, 
 and, as she wrote, she " went away to the south dis- 
 couraged." 
 
 But the efforts which she and others had made in 
 Liverpool had made her ideas known, and had attracted 
 the attention of some whose help was likely to be 
 valuable. Among these was Miss Wolstenholme (now 
 Mrs. Wolstenholme Elmy), the Principal of a girls' 
 school in Manchester, and a leading member of the 
 Schoolmistresses' Association, which had been started 
 there shortly before. 
 
 At the end of January 1867, Miss Clough attended a 
 meeting of the London Schoolmistresses' Association, by 
 the invitation of Miss Emily Da vies, and read a paper 
 
n8 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 explaining her proposals. In March, while still at Combe 
 Hurst, she received an invitation to go to Manchester, 
 to read a paper to the Schoolmistresses' Association there, 
 and to meet some ladies from other northern towns. She 
 accordingly went, and read a paper which was in substance 
 the same as that written for the London Association. It 
 expounded her proposal that a number of schools should 
 combine to secure various advantages, and, in particular, to 
 organise classes or lectures on advanced subjects, to be 
 attended by pupils both from schools and private families. 
 It also proposed that the schools which combined for this 
 purpose should form an association, and that this associa- 
 tion should elect a council, which might devise plans for 
 improvements in education, and, if they were approved by 
 the association, carry them out ; this council to include, if 
 possible, besides the elected members, one or two inspectors 
 of schools, or other men of experience in education. 
 
 The Manchester Association and the ladies from Leeds 
 and Sheffield were much interested in these suggestions, 
 and it was decided to aim, not only at co-operation within 
 one town, but at a combination between several towns. 
 It was agreed, in the first place, to try to arrange for lec- 
 tures in several towns the following autumn ; and, in the 
 second place, to draw up a scheme for a council to be 
 elected by the Schoolmistresses' or Educational Associations 
 already existing in several places, and to submit the scheme 
 to these various societies. Both these plans were success- 
 fully carried out. Mr. James Stuart, Fellow of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge, was induced to deliver a course of 
 lectures on Astronomy in the four towns Liverpool, 
 Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds, and a council, called the 
 North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Edu- 
 
Educational Work in the North 119 
 
 cation of Women, was formed, and met for the first time 
 at Leeds in November 1867. 
 
 In 1873, Miss Clough wrote, for some friends, a history 
 of the North of England Council, and in the course of it 
 she gives the following account of the work of starting the 
 first lectures : 
 
 " I spent many weeks in August and September of 1867 
 in Liverpool, trying to make the coming lectures known. 
 Many friends helped me, among them Miss Margaret Calder, 
 and together we visited schoolmistresses and families, doing 
 our best to persuade them to look favourably on our plan, 
 but it was very uphill work, and there was plenty of dis- 
 couragement. In the other towns the various promoters of 
 the scheme were equally busy, and no doubt very anxious. 
 At times we all felt it very difficult to believe in our 
 work and the prospect of success ; but October came and 
 the much longed-for week. 
 
 " Our lecturer opened his courses in the four towns ; 
 the lecture-rooms were filled with interested students, many 
 of whom worked diligently at the questions set, and there 
 was much reading of scientific works, for our first lectures 
 were on astronomy. The keepers of the circulating libra- 
 ries had to change the character of their books, and, 
 before the lectures were over, the existing editions of at 
 least two scientific works were exhausted by the demands 
 of the students. The total number of the four audiences 
 reached five hundred and fifty. It was pleasant and en- 
 couraging to see so many diligent and interested students, 
 and to hear how small knots of young people collected to 
 read together, and it was apparent that the lecturer liked 
 his work, and did it heartily." 
 
 Thus some at least of Miss Clough's suggestions were 
 
120 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 to be given a fair trial. Her more elaborate schemes for 
 co-operation between the schools were left untried, but she 
 was ^characteristically ready to leave aside for the moment 
 those of her plans and aims which seemed to have the 
 least chance of being realised, and to devote herself to 
 whatever opening was given her. 
 
 She had, however, secured, in the adoption of her 
 scheme of lectures, several of the advantages on which she 
 laid stress, including some provision for girls beyond the 
 school age, and the opportunity for interesting University 
 men in the education of girls. And, above all, a council 
 had been created, not, indeed, a council appointed by 
 Government, as she had originally suggested, but still a 
 body which included members of the Universities and edu- 
 cational authorities, and which could both deliberate as to 
 possible reforms in education and do something to bring 
 them about. 
 
 Before the new Council met in November 1867, New- 
 castle had joined the other four towns, and two representa- 
 tives were elected by the Educational Associations of each 
 of the five, Mrs. Butler and Miss Clough representing 
 Liverpool, and Miss Wolsten holme being one of the repre- 
 sentatives of Manchester. The nominated members were 
 Mr. Butler, Mr. James Bryce, Fellow of Oriel and Assistant 
 Commissioner for Lancashire under the Schools Inquiry 
 Commission, Mr. J. G. Fitch, H.M. Inspector of Schools, 
 and Mr. Thomas Markby, Fellow of Trinity Hall and Secre- 
 tary of the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Mrs. 
 Butler was elected president, and Miss Clough secretary. 
 Mr. F. W. H. Myers, who was a most active supporter of 
 the whole enterprise, was present at the first meeting by 
 special invitation, and frequently at later meetings. 
 
Educational Work in the North 121 
 
 In the rules of the Council its functions are stated to 
 be, " to deliberate on questions affecting the improvement 
 and extension of the education of women of the upper and 
 middle classes, and to recommend to the several associa- 
 tions and societies therein represented plans for the pro- 
 mation of these objects." It is remarked in the prospectus 
 issued with the rules, that " by uniting several towns into 
 one society, breadth and importance may, it is hoped, be 
 given to this educational movement, and thus the Council 
 will be in a better position for securing the services of 
 eminent men as lecturers, and also for inviting the atten- 
 tion of those who are in authority or interested in education 
 to any plans which may be proposed for its improvement." 
 
 The North of England Council only continued in 
 existence for seven years, but during this time it accom- 
 plished results which were of value in themselves, and 
 which formed the starting-point for enterprises of far- 
 reaching importance. I propose to describe its work in 
 some detail, on account of its importance both in the 
 history of women's education, and indeed of education in 
 general, and in the story of Miss Clough's life. The 
 Council was in the main her creation ; she took a large 
 part in its undertakings, and contributed much to their 
 success, and this work was not only her chief interest and 
 occupation for some years, but it led directly to her later 
 work at Cambridge. 
 
 One of the most important, perhaps the most im- 
 portant, of the Council's undertakings was the organisation 
 of lectures to be given by University men in the associated 
 towns. The success of this branch of work was particularly 
 desirable, because the lectures, besides being of value in 
 themselves, formed the chief link between the Council and 
 
122 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 the towns. It was the desire to get help as to lectures 
 which induced the local associations to send representatives 
 and make an annual contribution to the Council, and it 
 was to the number and importance of the places which it 
 represented that the Council owed much of its weight and 
 influence. 
 
 The first course of lectures had been arranged by the 
 Educational Associations of the four towns before the 
 Council could be formally constituted ; but as soon as the 
 Council met, the arrangement of future lectures was put 
 into the hands of its executive committee. 
 
 For various reasons it was thought essential that the 
 arrangements for the lectures should be in the hands of 
 this central committee. It was clear that this plan would 
 make it , easier to make the best use of the lecturers who 
 were available, and to place the educational knowledge and 
 experience possessed by many members of the Council at 
 the disposal of the towns, and it was hoped that in this 
 way the Council would become a sort of bureau for the 
 organisation of advanced education in such towns as desired 
 it. It was felt, too, that if the organisation was carried 
 out in this manner, it might be possible to secure system 
 and continuity in the subjects on which lectures were 
 given, and this point was one to which the Council attached 
 much importance and gave much thought and attention. 
 Various persons who could speak with authority on the 
 subject were consulted, and advice as to the order in 
 which different subjects should be taught was sent to 
 them by the late Master of Balliol (Professor Jowett), by 
 Mr. Charles Pearson, and Professor Newman. But they 
 were much hampered by having only a very limited 
 number of lecturers to choose from, and also by the fact 
 
Educational Work in the North 123 
 
 that the local committees were obliged to choose subjects 
 which would attract sufficient numbers to meet the 
 necessary expenses. 
 
 The scheme could only have been carried out in its 
 complete form, and with the system and thoroughness 
 which the Council desired, if it met with full support and 
 sympathy from the local committees, but this was not to 
 be had in sufficient measure. Each committee had its own 
 public to satisfy, and each town had its special require- 
 ments, and it was perhaps too much to expect that the 
 committees would fully appreciate the importance of co- 
 operation and the value of the guidance offered by the 
 Council, and would make great efforts to accommodate 
 themselves to the plans which it proposed. At anyrate, 
 it was found impossible to make the plan of organisation 
 from the centre work smoothly and give satisfaction to 
 the local committees, and after three years of striving the 
 Council decided to give up the attempt, and to leave each 
 town to arrange its lectures for itself. After this time 
 the President and Secretary acted as referees, and supplied 
 information as to lecturers and other matters, but did not 
 undertake the arrangements unless specially asked to 
 do so. 
 
 Altogether twelve towns were at one time or another 
 represented on the Council. In 1867, when the Council 
 was first formed, there were, as has been said, lectures 
 given by one lecturer in four towns, the following spring 
 two lecturers divided five towns between them, and in the 
 autumn of 1868 three lecturers took nine towns. After 
 1869, the number of towns which arranged their lectures 
 under the guidance of the Council grew smaller, but a 
 large and increasing number made arrangements for lectures 
 
1 2 4 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 independently, and the report of the Council for 1870 tells 
 of lectures given during the preceding winter at twenty-three 
 centres. Glasgow, Cheltenham, and Clifton started lectures 
 in 1868, and Birmingham and Wolverhampton followed a 
 year or two later. The list of those who lectured for the 
 Council, besides Mr. James Stuart, who has been already 
 mentioned, contains the names of Professor J. W. Hales, 
 Professor Nichol, Professor Seeley, Sir Henry Eoscoe, Mr. 
 F. W. H. Myers, Mr. Charles Pearson, and other well- 
 known men. 
 
 The starting of the lectures roused interest and dis- 
 cussion concerning the education of women, and education 
 in general, in a great number of places, and other plans 
 were soon devised for providing it. It was found that 
 there was a desire for teaching in many subjects which 
 were not suited for lectures, and in several places classes 
 were started. In towns where there were good boys' 
 schools, the masters were induced to help ; Owens College, 
 Manchester, opened its lectures to women in 1869, and 
 the College of Science, Newcastle, did the same a few years 
 later. 
 
 Thus, though the hope of establishing a large scheme 
 for the systematic organisation of local lectures by a 
 central council had to be abandoned, what was done by 
 the North of England Council in this particular branch 
 of work had a great effect in stimulating educational 
 activity over a large area, and it brought out clearly the 
 existence of a widespread demand for more advanced 
 education (and not among women only), and led directly 
 to an undertaking of wider scope and more far-reaching 
 consequences than had been originally contemplated viz. 
 the organisation of local lectures by the Universities. 
 
Educational Work in the North 125 
 
 In 1871, Mr. James Stuart brought this idea of 
 organisation of local lectures by the Universities before 
 the executive committee of the Council, and was asked 
 by them to write a paper on the subject for distribution 
 in the North of England towns, and also to give a lecture 
 on it in each of these towns. The proposal was then dis- 
 cussed at the Council meeting in June 1871, and a memorial 
 on the subject, drawn up by Mr. Stuart, was signed by 
 the Council and sent to Mr. Gladstone. In this it was 
 asked that if a commission should be appointed to investi- 
 gate the tenure of non-resident fellowships, it should be 
 instructed to consider what assistance the Universities can 
 afford to higher education in large towns, and it was sug- 
 gested that non-resident fellowships might be tenable on 
 the ground of conducting higher education in these towns. 
 The situation at that time as regards the lectures is shown 
 in the opening sentences of this memorial, which are as 
 follows : 
 
 "We beg to bring before your notice the increasing 
 desire for the opening out of the educational advantages 
 of the Universities to those whose circumstances prevent 
 them from being able to reside there. The notion 
 embodied in this desire is not altogether theoretical, but 
 has found practical expression in the system of educational 
 lectures to ladies established four years ago, and now 
 applied to some extent to working men. Men of standing 
 in both Universities have given their services to the 
 scheme. But the system, being purely voluntary, fails to 
 guarantee that permanence of employment which it is 
 necessary to offer in order to secure for a continuance the 
 services of first-rate teachers ; while the societies engaged 
 in carrying out the scheme are in a perpetual state of 
 
126 Memo ir of An ne J. C lough 
 
 bankruptcy, or nearly so, from the fact that the sole pro- 
 vision for such lectures comes from the fees of provincial 
 pupils. For the same reason the education thus given is 
 in constant danger of being too much regulated by con- 
 siderations of what will be attractive, while many who 
 might otherwise be assisted are excluded by the necessity 
 of too large a fee. Meanwhile, the demand of the various 
 towns for courses of educational lectures continues to 
 increase, and the necessity is felt for supplementing these 
 courses of lectures by more frequent assistance of the 
 nature of class teaching, which we are at present prevented 
 from obtaining by the want of pecuniary provision." 
 
 Shortly after this, memorials were sent to the two 
 Universities, telling of what had been done, and asking 
 that they would consider how help could be given " to 
 the higher education of those classes in great towns who 
 are inevitably debarred from residence at a University." 
 Other memorials were sent to the Universities about the 
 same time from Eochdale, Crewe, and Leeds, and a little 
 later from Birmingham. 
 
 Some communications passed between the Vice- 
 Chancellor of Cambridge University and the various 
 memorialists during 1872, and early in 1873 a syndicate 
 was appointed to consider the memorials. In May of the 
 same year the Syndicate reported that they had sent ques- 
 tions to the memorialists and received answers from them ; 
 that they were of opinion that a real demand for Univer- 
 sity teaching existed, and that they recommended that the 
 Syndicate should be continued for two years, and should 
 be given power to organise lectures and examinations if 
 the necessary funds were guaranteed in the localities. The 
 Senate agreed to this, and in the autumn of 1873 lectures 
 
Educational Work in the North 127 
 
 were organised in Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester, and in 
 the following spring at those towns, and also at Keighley, 
 Leeds, Halifax, and Bradford. The Syndicate reported 
 favourably of the results, and, after another year of 
 experimental work, a standing syndicate was appointed, and 
 the University undertook the work permanently. 
 
 A few years later the University of Oxford undertook 
 work of the same kind. The desire to bring University 
 teaching within the reach of a greater number had been 
 felt and expressed at Oxford as early as 1850, and various 
 schemes having this end in view had been laid before the 
 University Commission then sitting, and among them a 
 plan for providing University teaching in large towns ; 
 but it was not till 1878 that the University undertook 
 the organisation of local lectures. It is interesting to 
 notice that Arthur Clough was one of those who in 1850 
 submitted considerations to the Commission in favour of 
 extending the work of the Universities. 
 
 There was another matter to which the North of 
 England Council gave its attention as soon as it met, viz. 
 the establishment of a satisfactory examination for women 
 over eighteen years of age. The main object was to secure 
 an examination which would be useful as a test for 
 teachers. Nothing which answered this purpose was then 
 in existence, there was no means of distinguishing the 
 competent from the incompetent, and both teachers and 
 employers suffered from the want of it. It was hoped 
 that a good examination might lead to better teaching both 
 in schools and families, and also that it might help to raise 
 the status of women-teachers, which was then very low. 
 The position of schoolmasters, as was pointed out, had been 
 improved lately, owing to the fact that more University 
 
128 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 men had entered the profession. The Council soon 
 decided, however, that to whatever body they applied, they 
 would ask for an examination open to all women over 
 eighteen, and not limited to teachers. The first scheme 
 proposed was that of a voluntary board of examiners from 
 the two Universities ; this idea seems to have sprung 
 from Oxford, and was certainly warmly taken up there as 
 well as at Cambridge. 
 
 Meetings were held in London and Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge to consider the proposal, and a board was formed at 
 each University to carry it out. At both Universities the 
 proposal was supported by a number of distinguished men. 
 At Oxford there were, amongst others, the Eector of Lincoln 
 (Mr. Mark Pattison), Dr. Temple, Professor Max Miiller, 
 Professor Stubbs ; and at Cambridge, Professor Kennedy, 
 Professor Kingsley, Professor Lightfoot, Professor Maurice. 
 However, it soon appeared that so many of the resident 
 members of the University of Cambridge were in favour of 
 some examination of the kind, that it was reasonable to 
 hope that the University might be induced to undertake 
 the work formally, and the voluntary idea was abandoned. 
 
 At this point there was some difference of opinion 
 among the promoters of the educational movement. The 
 London Committee, of which Miss Davies was secretary, 
 were strongly of opinion that an examination for women 
 only would be of little value, as there would be no 
 standard up to which it must be kept, and that much 
 of the value to girls of the Junior and Senior Local 
 Examinations was due to their being for boys also. 
 London University had just received a charter empower- 
 ing them to examine women, and were preparing a 
 scheme, and those who were anxious to have the same 
 
Educational Work in the North 129 
 
 examinations for women as for men thought that it 
 would be best to make use of this scheme provisionally, 
 and not to apply to Cambridge at this point. On the 
 other hand, there were some who did not desire identical 
 examinations for women and men, on the ground that the 
 existing examinations and the whole system of education 
 for men was by no means satisfactory, and there was, in 
 addition, a strong feeling that a connection with Cam- 
 bridge was of the greatest value. It was urged that 
 senior members of the University had come forward for 
 the first time, and that it would be losing a great 
 opportunity if their readiness to help women, in the one 
 way which seemed at present to be open to them, was not 
 taken advantage of. 
 
 The majority of the North of England Council were 
 convinced that it was an opportunity not to be lost, and 
 they drew up and signed a memorial, asking for an ex- 
 amination for women over eighteen, which was sent up to 
 the Senate of the University. Mrs. Butler went later to 
 Cambridge with a second memorial, signed by five hundred 
 and fifty teachers and three hundred other ladies. Miss 
 Clough wrote of this expedition that "the charm Mrs. 
 Butler put into all the details she gave, showing the desire 
 of women for help in educating themselves, made the 
 subject, which might have been considered tedious, both 
 interesting and attractive, and thus drew to the cause 
 many friends." The Cambridge Senate received these 
 memorials favourably ; and a scheme of examinations 
 was drawn up by a syndicate, after consultation with 
 the North of England Council and others, and estab- 
 lished provisionally for three years. At the end of that 
 time these examinations were made permanent. Two 
 9 
 
130 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 years later a request was made for the admission of men 
 as well as women ; this was granted, and the name was 
 changed from Women's Examinations to Higher Local 
 Examinations. In 1869, when they were first held, there 
 were two centres and thirty-six candidates ; in 1895 there 
 were twenty-one centres and eight hundred and ninety- 
 three candidates. These examinations have this much of 
 further history, that when, in 1881, the Senate of Cam- 
 bridge University formally admitted women to the Tripos 
 Examinations, they appointed certain parts of the Higher 
 Local Examinations to be alternative to the Previous 
 Examination (or Little-go) as a preliminary examination 
 for women candidates for the Tripos. 
 
 It was chiefly in consequence of the establishment of 
 these examinations, and of the Council's work in connec- 
 tion with them, that another important movement sprang 
 up, and one which was of peculiar importance to Miss 
 Clough. 
 
 The appeal for help in this matter which had been 
 made to Cambridge, and the presence of Cambridge men 
 on the Council, had drawn attention to that body and to 
 its work in organising lectures. In 1870, at the sugges- 
 tion of Mr. Henry Sidgwick, and chiefly through his efforts, 
 a scheme of lectures, intended to prepare for the Women's 
 Examinations, was started in Cambridge. They were well 
 attended; and, before long, women living at a distance 
 from Cambridge showed their anxiety to make use of 
 them. A house of residence was then opened to accom- 
 modate such students, and Miss Clough was invited to 
 take charge of it. This house of residence eventually 
 grew into Newnham College. I shall have to give the 
 history of these lectures in detail when I come to tell of 
 
Educational Work in the North 131 
 
 Miss Clough's Cambridge life, but I mention them here 
 on account of their connection with the North of England 
 Council. 
 
 These two things the organisation in the northern 
 towns of lectures, given by University men, which led to 
 University extension; and the establishment of an ex- 
 amination for women, which led to the Cambridge lectures, 
 and so to Newnham College were the Council's most 
 striking achievements ; but it had a hand in various 
 other important educational enterprises. 
 
 In 1869 the Endowed Schools Bill was before Parlia- 
 ment, and the North of England Council, after a discussion 
 of the question, in which Mr. Bryce, Mr. Fitch, Mr. 
 T. H. Green, and others took part, drew up a petition to 
 Parliament, asking that wide powers might be given to the 
 Commissioners to provide for the establishment of public 
 schools for girls, and to apply to their education a reason- 
 able portion of existing endowments. They also appointed 
 a committee to collect information as to endowments, and 
 to make representations to the Commissioners. This 
 committee, which consisted not only of members of the 
 Council, but of others whom they asked to join them, met 
 in London ; but other committees (some in connection with 
 the Council and others independent of it) were formed in 
 a number of other places for the same purpose. 
 
 The report of 1870 gives an account of their work. 
 
 " The London Committee have endeavoured, in different 
 parts of the country, to draw attention to the fact that 
 the Commissioners were willing to devote a portion of the 
 endowments to the establishment of girls' schools, and 
 to the improvement of girls' education generally. The 
 London Committee have made it their object to work in 
 
132 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 those places where the Commission sent Assistant-Commis- 
 sioners, if possible, to be beforehand, that a public feeling 
 in favour of girls' education might be created, and some 
 knowledge of the object of the Commission be diffused. 
 A paper of suggestions has been largely distributed. The 
 secretary has corresponded with many in various parts of 
 the country, who have shown a great wish to further this 
 object. Miss Boucherett, in Lincolnshire, has been pre- 
 paring the minds of people in her neighbourhood to be 
 ready to offer suggestions when the Commissioners came. 
 The subject is being taken up in Bristol and Cheltenham, 
 and in Yorkshire ; the Yorkshire Board is prepared to act. 
 In Wales, we hear that the Commissioners are willing to 
 do something for girls, and we hope that their offer may 
 be accepted. In Westminster, the Committee have been 
 endeavouring to urge the community to make public ex- 
 pression of their sympathy with the work the Com- 
 missioners are so ready to do for girls. They are led to 
 believe that such an expression of feeling is a valuable 
 help." 
 
 Various matters beside those in which the Council 
 could take an active part were discussed at its annual 
 meetings. 
 
 At the first meeting, in 1867, Miss Da vies' plan of a 
 college for women was discussed, and much interest and 
 sympathy were expressed ; and it was recommended that 
 members of the Council should support the scheme, by 
 forming committees to collect funds for it in the associated 
 towns. Another question which was discussed at this 
 meeting was the registration of teachers. The Council 
 expressed themselves in favour of the principle of regis- 
 tration ; but held that it was premature to take any 
 
Educational Work in the North 133 
 
 practical steps, since almost no certificates or testimonials 
 were then accessible to teachers. 
 
 In 1871 Mrs. William Grey attended the Council by 
 invitation, and described her scheme of a National Union 
 for promoting the education of women. The Council 
 stated their willingness to co-operate in this, and asked 
 Mrs. Grey to give lectures on her proposal in the towns 
 which they represented. The National Union was founded 
 the same year, and two years later it started the Girls' 
 Public Day Schools Company, and by its means the first 
 high schools for girls. 
 
 Another scheme which came before the Council was a 
 system of correspondence teaching, which was then a new 
 invention, but has since become a recognised method of 
 education. Correspondence classes, arranged with a view 
 to the Women's Examinations, were organised at Cambridge 
 by Mr. Henry Sidgwick and Mrs. Peile (the wife of Dr. Peile, 
 now Master of Christ's College, Cambridge), and taught by 
 University men. Mrs. Peile, who acted as secretary, and 
 carried on these classes for many years, described them at 
 a meeting of the Council as " intended to convey intel- 
 lectual help of a high order to women, the conditions of 
 whose lives isolated them from all means of obtaining such 
 help," and she mentioned that they had been suggested to 
 her by a lady who was herself in this position. The idea 
 of correspondence-teaching had been hit upon and put into 
 practice a year or two earlier (also in connection with the 
 Women's Examinations) by Miss Arabella Shore ; and 
 when the Cambridge classes were started, Miss Shore gave 
 Mr. Sidgwick the benefit of her experience. 
 
 These Cambridge classes were perhaps the first organi- 
 sation for systematic teaching by correspondence. They 
 
134 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 eventually (in 1884) became a branch of the work carried on 
 by Newnham College, and continued in existence till 1894, 
 when they were given up, because the largely increased 
 opportunities of oral teaching and the existence of many 
 other correspondence classes made them unnecessary. 
 
 The North of England Council met in June 1874 for 
 the ninth time, but, in the course of the next year, it 
 became clear that its work had been taken over by various 
 competent organisations, and that it was no longer needed. 
 The Cambridge Syndicate was there to give help in organ- 
 ising lectures where it was needed ; Mrs. Grey's National 
 Union was in existence, with its offspring, the Girls' Public 
 Day School Company ; and Girton College and Newnham 
 Hall could watch over the interests of women as to Uni- 
 versity education. Accordingly, the Council was dissolved, 
 and the balance of its funds was presented to the Newn- 
 ham Library. It is an interesting fact that the Liverpool 
 Educational Society, which was founded in 1866, as the 
 result of Miss Clough's exertions, and of which she was 
 the first secretary, is still in existence in 1897. Miss 
 Clough was succeeded as secretary by her friend and 
 indefatigable helper, Miss Margaret Calder, to whom it is 
 due that the Society is still alive, and that, in spite of all 
 rival attractions, a course of lectures is still given every 
 winter under its auspices. 
 
 The work which the North of England Council accom- 
 plished in these seven years was achieved by the efforts 
 of a large number of people, too many to name, in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country ; but prominent among them 
 were Mrs. Butler, Miss Clough, and Miss Wolstenholme. 
 When Miss Clough went to Liverpool to try and get some 
 of her schemes started, Mrs. Butler's prompt sympathy and 
 
Educational Work in the North 135 
 
 encouragement were very valuable, and her active interest 
 in the plans proposed led others to be interested and to 
 help. When the Council came into existence, Mrs. Butler 
 made an able as well as a zealous President, and while 
 she herself took an active part in almost everything that 
 was undertaken, she did good service also in kindling the 
 enthusiasm of others by her eloquence and earnestness. 
 She remained President till 1873, when she was succeeded 
 by Miss Clough; but by attending and reading a paper 
 at the meeting in the following year, she showed that she 
 had not lost her interest in the Council. 
 
 Miss Wolstenholme, though, as principal of a school, 
 she had her hands already sufficiently full of work, was 
 incessantly engaged also on the Council business, consult- 
 ing, suggesting, and negotiating about the lectures, drawing 
 up memorials for the Women's Examination, and collecting 
 signatures for it, and giving valuable advice as to the work of 
 the Committee on Endowments. It was she who devised 
 the original constitution of the Council, and she seems to 
 have been consulted about reports and other documents 
 issued by the Council, and is described by Mrs. Butler 
 as being invaluable to the Council on account of her 
 experience and her fertility of resource. 
 
 It was on Miss Clough, as secretary, that the chief 
 burden fell of the correspondence and negotiations which 
 were necessary for carrying on the Council's schemes. 
 She was secretary only from 1867 till 1870, but the work 
 during these years was particularly arduous and difficult. 
 The task of arranging the lectures was especially laborious 
 and troublesome. First of all, inquiries had to be made 
 on all sides before lecturers could be found. Then, in order 
 to make it worth the lecturer's while to come, two or three 
 
136 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 towns must agree to take the same course, and times and 
 subjects were often difficult to arrange. And then, as has 
 been said, the local committees were not easy to satisfy. One 
 town would set its heart on a subject for which no lecturer 
 was available, another was convinced that the lecturer 
 proposed would not be sufficiently educational, and a third 
 suddenly discovered that University men were a great 
 mistake, and that classes given by local teachers were the 
 one thing needful. It was a perpetual struggle, and Mrs. 
 Butler wrote to Miss Clough concerning the importance of 
 satisfying the committees, that " it is no easy task, and we 
 must be content if we only manage tolerably well." 
 
 There was much work, too, involved in the appeal for 
 an examination for women much consultation and 
 correspondence with friends at the Universities, and con- 
 siderable anxiety and perturbation owing to the differences 
 of opinion of which I have spoken. 
 
 Miss Clough was keenly anxious for the success of 
 the undertaking, for which, as secretary, she was largely 
 responsible, and worked with the most unsparing zeal, 
 leaving nothing undone, and pressing on in the face of 
 every discouragement. She was, indeed, perhaps too 
 anxious, and took the difficulties with the towns too much 
 to heart. Mr. Butler touched rather happily on the 
 characteristics of her work when she resigned the secretary- 
 ship. He spoke of her unwearied zeal, perseverance, and 
 good temper, and added : " She has seen continually the 
 triumph of a good cause where others would have 
 desponded." 
 
 She gave up the secretaryship in 1870, when the 
 rules were altered and the arrangements for lectures 
 handed over to the local committees, and she remarked, in 
 
Educational Work in the North 137 
 
 introducing the new rules, that they would make the 
 secretary's work easier and more popular. 
 
 Shortly before this she had been asked, and had agreed, 
 to undertake a piece of work which would take her whole 
 time, and it was for this reason, no doubt, that she retired; 
 but an unexpected delay occurred, and she, therefore, con- 
 tinued to work in connection with the North of England 
 Council. Her friend Miss Margaret Calder was made 
 secretary in her place, and Miss Clough naturally con- 
 tinued for a time to help in the secretary's work. She was 
 already on the London Committee for collecting information 
 as to endowments, and was very active in that branch of 
 work. She was also put on the Executive Committee, 
 which took charge of the question of University exten- 
 sion and communicated with the Cambridge Syndicate 
 concerning it. As I have already mentioned, she became 
 President of the North of England Council in 1873, two 
 years after she began work at Cambridge, and was President 
 in 1874, when the Council was dissolved. 
 
 I gather from the reports of the Council meetings 
 that Miss Clough did not take a prominent part in its 
 discussions, especially in its earlier years. She read two 
 or three short papers, concerned mainly with practical 
 suggestions ; one on the opening of reading-rooms, and 
 another suggesting the formation of a society to recommend 
 qualified teachers ; and she frequently said a few words on 
 some practical point, but she made hardly any long 
 speeches, and did not come forward as one who had 
 many ideas to communicate. She was, not, indeed, well 
 fitted to do this, for she was wanting in the power of 
 expression and of logical arrangement, and she had no gift 
 for expounding general principles, or explaining the reasons 
 
138 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 for one course as against another. Her method was 
 rather to make her ideas known in intercourse with indi- 
 viduals, and to seize any opportunity which might offer of 
 forwarding them practically. 
 
 But though she had ideas and schemes of her own, 
 her aim, when she originally suggested a council of this 
 kind, was not to get any particular plans tried, but rather 
 to bring together a number of competent persons, men 
 from the Universities and others experienced in education, 
 and women who knew what was wanted, and to give them 
 the opportunity of considering the whole question of 
 women's education, and of devising plans for its improve- 
 ment ; and in this desire she was abundantly satisfied. 
 
 Her special aims and hopes concerning the scheme 
 of lectures are set forth in a paper which was written for 
 publication in 1868 in order to make the lectures more 
 widely known, and to lead to their being tried elsewhere. 
 
 She writes : " Many reasons may commend it [the 
 lectures scheme] to the public. In the first place, it ought 
 to be self-supporting or nearly so ; it is suited to clusters 
 of small towns, for by combining they may secure the 
 services of a scientific or literary man, and his residence 
 in the neighbourhood for a period of time. Intercourse 
 with men devoted to science and literature will commend 
 these subjects to those who before cared little for them. 
 In the winter time in these small towns an interest of the 
 kind would be invaluable to both health and spirits as well 
 as intellectually. The young people would be directed to 
 new and higher courses of reading and study, and their 
 elders would naturally desire to know what is awakening 
 the attention and occupying the thoughts of the younger 
 members of the family. The demand for essays or answers 
 
Educational Work in the North 139 
 
 to questions quickens the attention even of those who 
 have not time or inclination for the work, and they read 
 with greater zest, and listen with more attention and 
 understanding because they have read. Home life is left 
 undisturbed, and at the same time those who are likely to 
 wish for a career may be helped and directed in their 
 studies, and become perhaps fitted for higher pursuits or 
 practical life. 
 
 " Something has been heard of the pleasure and satis- 
 faction derived from the lectures and from the studies that 
 have followed them, that has been a support and help to 
 those who have laboured at the laborious task of the arrange- 
 ments, and they have felt with satisfaction that their time 
 and strength have not been thrown away. They have 
 ventured to hope that it may be the means of enabling 
 students to take up special studies, and to follow out with 
 more composure and less fatigue their favourite bents, and 
 that thus perhaps some may be able to enter occupations 
 that are congenial, and not merely drudgery for bread." 
 
 She adds : " The intercourse begun between the various 
 teachers and those interested in education engaged in this 
 scheme has in many cases ripened into friendship, and the 
 life of the schoolroom has been enlivened and brightened, 
 while at the same time the horizon has broadened." And 
 she remarks : " Might it not be wiser if our young women 
 could give a portion of their youth to quiet studies and 
 reading, laying up a store against the future, when the 
 busy cares of life and its occupations and anxieties almost 
 take away the power of serious and continuous study ? " 
 
 There were certain matters which she had specially at 
 heart and desired should be kept in view in the work of 
 the Council. She was particularly anxious that the pro- 
 
140 Memoir of Anne J, C lough 
 
 posed examination for women should be of use to teachers, 
 and when it had been decided that it should be open to 
 all women over eighteen, she wrote a paper urging that it 
 should nevertheless be framed with special regard to the 
 needs of teachers. In this paper she gives a scheme of 
 the subjects which all teachers ought to know, adding 
 remarks on each of them, and speaks strongly on the need 
 for study of methods, and in favour of a plan for train- 
 ing teachers in schools, all of which is not perhaps quite 
 relevant to the examination, but is interesting to read now. 
 I cannot help quoting one characteristic passage. 
 
 * In the questions on history, the student might be 
 required to name the poets who had written about various 
 events, and to name the poems, or parts of poems touch- 
 ing on these events ; and thus, when they had to teach 
 history, they would be able to interest their pupils in what 
 had been written by poets as well as by historians. Thus 
 the study would not be only a dry collection of facts, but 
 rather a brilliant series of pictures of past times. Might 
 it not be possible to introduce poetry in the same way into 
 the study of geography, as affording descriptive sketches of 
 different countries and places ? " 
 
 She set great store by the personal intercourse and 
 friendship which grew out of the educational work, and 
 was most anxious to facilitate and encourage this. At the 
 first meeting of the Council she asked leave to write a 
 paper on reading-rooms and libraries, to be distributed 
 among members of the associations. The President sup- 
 ported the request, with the remark that there was a 
 difficulty in getting the books needed for the lectures ; but 
 Miss Clough's arguments are, for the most part, of quite a 
 different kind. 
 
Edttcational Work in the North 141 
 
 In the course of this paper she says : " Having had 
 the opportunity of attending several meetings of the 
 London and Manchester Associations, my experience has 
 been, in the first place, that formal meetings for business 
 and for discussion are not enough to bring a large society 
 into harmonious and friendly relations. Business will, of 
 course, in the first case, be the engrossing subject. It 
 will be much the same with discussion, though here there 
 may be a greater opportunity for gaining knowledge of 
 character and opinions in a more general way than in the 
 former case. But in meetings of both kinds very little 
 leisure has been allowed for promiscuous conversation, 
 affording the company present an opportunity to arrange 
 themselves in congenial groups, and to cultivate those 
 private and intimate relations which might prove of real 
 value. The little leisure allowed always seems to be much 
 enjoyed, and to be prolonged to the last moment. Would 
 it not, therefore, be possible to provide some outlet for 
 these kindly and friendly feelings ? In our smaller towns 
 this would be far easier than in London, where perhaps 
 such a thing is unattainable." She then proposes reading- 
 rooms with papers and periodicals, and continues : " Here 
 in the dull winter afternoons, or long summer evenings, 
 the principals of schools would come to have a chat, to 
 say a word to each other about passing events, to talk 
 over an article in the last newspaper or magazine, maybe 
 to discuss their private affairs, to learn who was ill, who 
 was well, and so forth ; in short, to speak friendly words ; 
 and thus would good feeling and good fellowship grow up 
 among the members of our society. Occasionally members 
 from the other associations might be tempted to spend 
 a holiday among their fellow-workers in another town. 
 
142 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Here, also, the ladies not connected with schools would 
 have an opportunity of exchanging ideas with those who 
 are carrying on the practical business of education. May 
 we not look forward occasionally to welcoming among us 
 those friends from the Universities who have so kindly 
 and zealously come forward to help us after a more 
 perfect form of education ? Thus, may we hope, shall the 
 bonds of our union be cemented and made stronger, and 
 when we want to work together, surely we shall the more 
 readily and the more cordially join hands." 
 
 She herself quickly got into friendly and even affec- 
 tionate relations with those with whom she was brought 
 in contact, and the business communications of the local 
 secretaries usually contain answers to the inquiries which 
 she has evidently made about various members of their 
 families. In the three years of her secretaryship she 
 visited several of the Northern towns more than once, and 
 she undoubtedly enjoyed the opportunities which this gave 
 her of making new friends, and seeing new people and 
 places. She was encouraged, too, by the sympathy with 
 her aims which she found among the members of the 
 Schoolmistresses' Associations, and the assurance which 
 she thus received that real needs did exist, which it was 
 worth while trying to supply. It was of these associa- 
 tions that she wrote in the Universal Review in 1888: 
 " The writer of this article had the pleasure of being 
 present at some of their meetings, and of making the 
 acquaintance of many of the members in several towns. 
 Their earnestness and zeal were remarkable, and their 
 power of combining surprising. They were very grateful 
 for sympathy, and very willing to work hard on new lines 
 without much hope of larger remuneration." 
 
Educational Work in the North 143 
 
 Another point which she was anxious to keep always 
 in view was the importance of union and combination, and 
 this subject is repeatedly referred to in the Secretary's 
 reports. In one she says : " It is pleasant to find the four 
 original associations, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, and 
 Leeds, where the lectures began, still continue to send 
 members to our meetings. ... I sincerely hope that our 
 union will be continued. It may help very much to give 
 strength and permanence to this movement, and will be 
 very useful in assisting small places." 
 
 In speaking of those who were responsible for the 
 work of the North of England Council, it is important 
 to remember how much help was given by University men 
 and how much the Council owed to that help. The 
 University members of the Council did not merely attend 
 its meetings, they also took part in the work done outside 
 the meetings. Many of them were referred to for advice 
 and information at different times, and in particular Mr. 
 Bryce, Mr. Myers, and Mr. Stuart corresponded frequently 
 with Mrs. Butler and Miss Clough as to the examina- 
 tions and the lectures, and as to the question of endow- 
 ments. 
 
 Miss Clough did not spend her whole time or mind 
 upon the North of England Council work during these 
 years. It did not even use up all the energy she had to 
 give to educational matters, for she busied herself about 
 several questions which did not come within the province 
 of the Council. 
 
 She was much interested, for instance, in primary 
 education, and wrote an article in Macmillan's Magazine 
 for August 1868, full of suggestions for making the 
 teaching more satisfactory both to teachers and pupils, 
 
144 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 for dealing with all sorts of exceptional cases, and 
 for turning volunteer teachers to account. This paper 
 also contained an account of the method of teaching 
 reading and writing used in the German schools. She had 
 heard of this method from a German friend, Miss Eichens, 
 a teacher in Berlin, and had been struck by the greater 
 quickness with which the German children learned to read 
 and write, and she was very anxious to get it introduced 
 into England. Besides expounding the plan in Macmillan's 
 Magazine, she asked Miss Eichens to write a reading-book 
 for young children in which it was set forth. She herself 
 revised the little book, wrote a preface to it, and carried 
 on the necessary negotiations with the Clarendon Press, by 
 whom it was eventually published. 
 
 The question of day schools for girls was one in which 
 she was particularly interested, and at this time it was 
 being much discussed. She went to see Miss Buss's 
 school and Cheltenham College, and in 1871 wrote a 
 paper giving her ideas on the subject. I find also 
 among her papers one proposing that a company 
 should be started to erect school buildings, and put them 
 into the hands of trustees under certain conditions 
 as to the management of the schools. She proposes 
 that, to begin with, the company should erect the build- 
 ings for Miss Buss's school, which was then needing new 
 premises. She also suggests that the shares should be 
 small, as many women would thereby be enabled to take 
 part in the undertaking, and also perhaps the parents of 
 the children who might attend the schools. 
 
 Though the North of England Council and the 
 educational questions of which I have spoken gave Miss 
 Clough plenty of irregular occupation, she was still anxious 
 
Educational Work in the North 145 
 
 to get some regular permanent work. In the end of 1869 
 Mr. W. Eogers, the rector of Bishopsgate, at the sugges- 
 tion of the late Master of Balliol, invited her to become 
 the head of a new middle-class day school for girls which 
 he proposed to start in Bishopsgate. A successful boys' 
 school was already in existence, of which Mr. Jowitt, now 
 rector of Stevenage, was headmaster, and Mr. Eogers and 
 the governing body wished to start a school for girls on 
 the same lines. Miss Clough accepted the offer. She 
 expected to begin work before long, and it was for this 
 reason that she gave up the secretaryship of the North of 
 England Council in 1870. But difficulties arose, sufficient 
 funds were not forthcoming, and in the spring of 1871 it 
 seemed still quite uncertain when the school could be started. 
 
 It was at this time that Mr. Henry Sidgwick was 
 trying to arrange for a house of residence at Cambridge 
 for students coming from a distance to attend lectures, 
 and was seeking for a lady to preside over it. It 
 was natural that Miss Clough should occur to him as a 
 suitable person. She was known to him personally, and 
 he knew of her work on the North of England Council 
 and of the interest which she had already shown in what 
 was being done at Cambridge, and accordingly, in March 
 1871, he asked her if she would undertake the post; but 
 she declined on the ground that she was pledged to Mr. 
 Eogers. A month or two later, Mrs. Arthur Clough, 
 seeing that the Bishopsgate scheme seemed less and less 
 likely to be realised, suggested to Mr. Sidgwick to ask 
 Miss Clough again. He did so, and she agreed to begin 
 work at Cambridge in the following autumn. 
 
 It was fortunate that she made this decision and did 
 
 not reserve herself for the Bishopsgate school, for the 
 10 
 
146 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 difficulties in the way of the scheme eventually became 
 too great, and it was finally abandoned early in 1872. 
 
 Her home during these years up till 1871 continued 
 to be at Combe Hurst or in London with Mrs. Arthur 
 Clough, but she spent a good many weeks in each year in 
 Liverpool and other places where the lectures were taking 
 place. She went about too as before among her friends 
 and family, and went again to Germany and Switzerland. 
 
 Many of her friends were interested in her work, 
 and some of them were able to help her in it. Mrs. 
 Arthur Clough was with her in Liverpool on one of her 
 autumn campaigns before the winter course of lectures, 
 and Miss Elinor Bonham Carter (now Mrs. A. V. Dicey) 
 was her companion on several similar occasions, and 
 worked with her on the Committees connected with 
 the Examination for Women and the work of the Endowed 
 Schools Commissioners. 
 
 Among those who gave her valuable help at this time 
 were her friends Mr. and Mrs. William Smith. Mr. Smith 
 was well known as the author of Thomdale, and as a writer 
 on literary and philosophical subjects in the Edinburgh 
 Review and elsewhere, and Mrs. Smith was also a remark- 
 able person, and one who left a deep impression on all who 
 knew her. Miss Clough had known Mrs. Smith as a girl 
 in Wales, and during the years between 1860 and 1870 
 she renewed acquaintance with her, and visited her and her 
 husband frequently at their home in Westmoreland. She 
 was warmly attached to them both, and felt that she 
 owed much to their sympathy and encouragement and to 
 their wise and helpful counsel, and she wrote long after 
 that the seed of her work at this time, and later, " was 
 planted in their quiet cottage home at Derwentwater." 
 
CHAPTEK VI 
 
 THE STARTING OF NEWNHAM COLLEGE 
 
 Miss Clough's history is, from this time forward, so 
 closely interwoven with the course of the movement at 
 Cambridge, with which she now became associated, that it 
 is necessary to give a somewhat detailed account of its 
 origin and development before attempting to describe her 
 work and way of life. 
 
 The idea of organising lectures for women at Cambridge 
 was first brought forward by Mr. Henry Sidgwick in the 
 autumn of 1869, and was approved by many distinguished 
 members of the University. Mr. Fawcett was then 
 Professor of Political Economy in the University, and he 
 and Mrs. Fawcett were living in Cambridge at this time. 
 Mrs. Fawcett was much interested in Mr. Sidgwick's 
 scheme, and became his active ally in taking steps to 
 carry it out. It was obviously important to gain the 
 sympathy of the ladies belonging to the University circle, 
 and Mrs. Fawcett therefore invited a number of her friends 
 and acquaintances to meet in her drawing-room and con- 
 sider Mr. Sidgwick's proposal, and obtained their approval 
 of the scheme. A General Committee of Management 
 was then formed, consisting of members of the University 
 and a small Executive Committee, which included several 
 ladies. 
 
 The General Committee included Professor F. D. 
 
 147 
 
1 48 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 Maurice, Professor Adams, Professor Cayley, Mr. W. K. 
 Clifford, Mr. Henry Jackson, Mr. K. C. Jebb, Mr. Alfred 
 Marshall, Mr. J. E. B. Mayor, Mr. W. W. Skeat, and many 
 others. The Executive Committee consisted of Professor 
 Maurice (at whose house the meetings were held), Mr. 
 T. G. Bonney, Mr. Ferrers (now Master of Gonville and 
 Caius), Mr. Peile (now Master of Christ's), Mrs. Adams, 
 Mrs. Fawcett, Miss M. G. Kennedy, and Mrs. Venn. Mr. 
 Sidgwick and Mr. Markby, the Secretary to the Local 
 Examination Syndicate, were secretaries, and Mrs. Bateson, 
 the wife of the Master of St. John's College, was treasurer. 
 
 A scheme of lectures was drawn up and printed in 
 readiness for the Lent term of 1870. I find announced 
 in this list lectures on English History by Professor 
 Maurice, on English Language and Literature by Mr. 
 Skeat, on Algebra and the Principles of Arithmetic by 
 Professor Cayley, Latin by Mr. Mayor, Political Economy 
 by Mr. Marshall. 
 
 At the head of this list the aims and objects of the 
 Committee were expounded as follows : 
 
 " For some time past a great and growing desire has 
 been felt and expressed in many quarters for some im- 
 provement and extension of the education of women. To 
 meet this demand several schemes have been organised 
 in London, Edinburgh, and other towns of the United 
 Kingdom ; schemes differing widely in detail, but all 
 having in view the same object. These schemes 
 have proved more or less successful, and progress 
 and experiment are still being made in the same 
 direction. It has seemed to many persons resident in 
 Cambridge that this town offers exceptional facilities for an 
 attempt of this kind, since it contains a large number of 
 
The Starting of Neivnham College 149 
 
 trained and practised teachers, who are willing to extend 
 the sphere of their instruction." 
 
 The circular goes on to say that " the present juncture 
 seems a favourable one for the experiment, as the Uni- 
 versity has recently instituted an examination for women 
 in various subjects, and it appears natural and desirable 
 that members of the University should offer instruction 
 in the same subjects to all who may be disposed to avail 
 themselves of it. Accordingly, a Committee has been 
 formed of resident members of the University engaged 
 in education, who have adopted the following scheme 
 of arrangements for lectures." 
 
 The lectures proved successful at once, and in the first 
 term the various courses were attended by nearly eighty 
 ladies. They were delivered at this time and for some 
 years in a small building which stands in the garden of a 
 house then occupied by Mr. C. J. Clay, and which Mr. 
 Clay kindly allowed the Committee to use without paying 
 rent. 
 
 Mr. Sidgwick and Mrs. Fawcett had from the first the 
 intention and hope that their scheme would be the means 
 of opening to women in the country at large the advantages 
 of University education ; and accordingly, their original 
 plan had included a house for the reception of students 
 from a distance. But it was thought wiser to postpone 
 this part of the scheme until the need for it became 
 more manifest. At Mrs. Fawcett's suggestion, an appeal 
 was made for funds in order to found exhibitions to be 
 held by students attending the lectures. In response 
 to this appeal, Mr. J. S. Mill and Miss Helen Taylor 
 promised an exhibition of 40 a year for two years, and 
 other sums were subscribed which enabled the Committee 
 
150 Memoir of Anne J. Clottgh 
 
 to offer two or three small scholarships to be competed for 
 in the Senior and Higher Local Examinations. 
 
 In the autumn of 1870 two ladies living at a distance 
 from Cambridge applied to the Committee for leave to 
 attend the lectures, and arrangements were made for them 
 to be received by residents in Cambridge ; and in the 
 Senior Local Examination in December 1870, the Mill- 
 Taylor Scholarship was awarded to Miss Edith Creak (now 
 head mistress of King Edward's High School for Girls, 
 Birmingham), and accepted by her. Accordingly, by the 
 end of 1870, the expediency of making permanent pro- 
 vision for these students from a distance came to be 
 generally accepted by those who were interested in the 
 scheme of lectures. 
 
 About the time that Mr. Sidgwick and those who 
 were working with him were making plans for a house of 
 residence, the Committee of the Women's College at 
 Hitchin was discussing whether they should or should not 
 move their College into Cambridge. Their decision on this 
 point was of great interest to those concerned in the 
 lectures scheme, and the latter had to consider how far 
 what they had in hand would affect or be affected by the 
 work of the College. 
 
 The Hitchin College, which was opened in October 
 1869, and which in 1873 became Grirton College, owed its 
 existence above all to the zeal, ability, and the clear and 
 unwavering purpose of Miss Emily Davies, though it had 
 other benefactors who were hardly less essential to its 
 success. It was managed at its starting 1 by a Committee 
 including, among others, the following : Lady Augusta 
 
 1 Lady Stanley of Alderley, who was one of the chief benefactors of Girton 
 College, joined the Committee in 1871, 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 151 
 
 Stanley, Lady Goldsmid, Madame Bodichon, the Dean of 
 Canterbury, Mrs. Eussell Gurney, Miss F. Metcalfe, Mr. 
 H. J. Eoby, Professor Seeley, and Mr. Sedley Taylor. 
 This Committee was advised by another, consisting of 
 members of Cambridge University. 
 
 Hitchin was only a temporary position, chosen for its 
 nearness both to London and Cambridge, and it was for 
 some time thought that the College would probably be 
 moved into Cambridge. Mr. Sidgwick was under this 
 impression when he started the lecture organisation almost 
 immediately after the College opened at Hitchin ; and he 
 thought that when this migration came to pass, the two 
 schemes might coalesce, and that the new lectures for 
 women, with the house of residence attached, might 
 supplement and extend the provision for the academic 
 education of women made by Miss Davies' College. But 
 in July 1870, the College Committee decided that the 
 site of the new building which they proposed to erect 
 was to be sought for " at Hitchin, or near Cambridge, but 
 not in or close to Cambridge." The site at Girton, which 
 was eventually chosen, is only two miles out of Cambridge, 
 and since the University has extended its bounds to 
 include it, and since, in practice, two miles has been 
 found not to be an impassable barrier, it now seems 
 surprising that coming to Girton was regarded as such a 
 wholly different thing from coming to Cambridge. But 
 at that time it was so regarded, both by the College 
 Committee itself and by others ; and since the scheme of 
 lectures was intended for women residing in Cambridge, 
 as well as for those coming from outside, it could hardly 
 seem reasonable to propose that an essential portion of the 
 work should be carried on at some distance from the town. 
 
V 
 
 152 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 There was, however, a more fundamental obstacle to 
 coalition between the two schemes, in the fact that the 
 lectures at Cambridge were closely connected with the 
 Examination for Women, 1 and that any examinations 
 specially intended for women were strongly disapproved 
 by the Hitchin College Committee. This disapproval was 
 partly due to the belief that only examinations which were 
 used as a test of men's education would maintain the 
 fixed and certain standard which was needed for the 
 improvement of women's education. It was urged that 
 examinations for women exclusively would tend to lower 
 the level of female education, because the standard of 
 such examinations would be liable to be lowered to suit 
 the incompetence of the candidates. It was also felt that 
 a certificate of success in a women's examination would 
 carry comparatively little weight, and that, in order to 
 secure recognition for intellectual work done by women, 
 and to obtain for them the privileges and opportunities 
 which they needed and desired, it was essential that they 
 should submit themselves to tests which were generally 
 recognised and accepted. To those who held these views, 
 the connection of the lectures scheme with the Examina- 
 tion for Women naturally seemed to be a serious defect. 
 
 On the other hand, the lectures had been avowedly 
 started to prepare for this examination, and the fact 
 that the examination had lately been instituted by the 
 University was put forward in the prospectus of the 
 lectures as a reason for providing teaching in the subjects 
 selected for it; and valuable support had been secured 
 on this ground. It was owing to this that Mr. Markby, 
 the secretary to the Local Examinations Syndicate, was 
 
 1 This examination was, after 1873, called the Higher Local Examination. 
 
The Starting of Nezvnham College 153 
 
 one of the secretaries of the lectures organisation, and 
 that at his death Mr. G. F. Browne (now Bishop of 
 Stepney), who succeeded him as Secretary to the Syndicate, 
 consented also to succeed him as Secretary to the Lectures 
 Committee. But further, many of those who lectured and 
 supported the lectures, and in particular Mr. Sidgwick, 
 were not prepared to admit the objections urged against 
 the Examination for Women. They considered that the 
 new examination would be more satisfactory, as a guide 
 and test of the more elementary work of their students, 
 than the Previous Examination, or " Little-go," and the 
 Ordinary Degree examinations of the University : that 
 it would at once encourage and attest a higher standard 
 of study, and allow a better selection of subjects. In 
 particular, while they were anxious that the classical 
 curriculum should be as fully opened to women as any 
 other of the Honours Courses, they thought the education 
 of girls would not be benefited by the imposition of Greek 
 and Latin, required for passing the Little-go, as a necessary 
 preliminary to all the higher branches of academic study. 
 There were other respects in which those who were work- 
 ing in Cambridge, having their own ideas as to the needs 
 of women's education, thought that the Hitchin College 
 scheme fell short of their aims, and might well be 
 supplemented. In the first place, it was thought by 
 some that it would be possible to provide University 
 education to women at a less cost than the College 
 was prepared to do. It was felt to be of the greatest 
 importance to make the new opportunities of study 
 accessible to as many as possible, and, in particular, 
 to those women who wished to prepare themselves for 
 teaching. The education of girls was known to be very 
 
154 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 unsatisfactory ; better teachers were urgently needed ; and 
 the best possible means of improving the state of things 
 seemed to be to give a large number of teachers a chance 
 of a good education. And, again, some members of the 
 Cambridge group were anxious that University education 
 for women should be entirely unconnected with any 
 religious denomination, and feared that the formal con- 
 nection with the Church of England established by a 
 clause in the constitution of the Hitchin College would 
 give it a distinctly denominational character. 
 
 These considerations appealed with different force to 
 different people, but they were among them sufficient to 
 convince those concerned in the matter that there was 
 still room for the Cambridge organisation, and work for it 
 to do in relation to the country at large, which the 
 Hitchin College was not prepared to undertake. In 
 coming to this decision there was no idea of showing 
 unfriendliness to the College at Hitchin. All who were 
 connected with the lectures wished well to the College, 
 and Mr. Sidgwick, who was the originator both of the 
 lectures scheme and of the house, had been from the first, 
 and continued for many years to be, on the staff of 
 lecturers at Hitchin and at G-irton. Some of those con- 
 nected with the College did undoubtedly think at one 
 time that the house in Cambridge (which ultimately 
 became Newnham College) would interfere with their 
 success, and this was perhaps not an unnatural fear ; but 
 it is now hardly possible to doubt that the development 
 of the two institutions, side by side, has been an advantage 
 to both, by securing a wider extent of aid and support 
 than could otherwise have been obtained for the academic 
 education of women. 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 155 
 
 But though the supporters of the lectures had now 
 in 1870 decided that a house of residence was desirable, 
 there was naturally some hesitation on account of the 
 financial risk. The Committee were not prepared to 
 suggest that the Cambridge men, who already gave much 
 of their time and labour, should be asked to incur expense 
 also. The difficulty was only solved when, in the spring 
 of 1871, Mr. Sidgwick determined to take a house for 
 the accommodation of students on his own responsibility, 
 as soon as he could find a lady to preside over it. 
 
 I have told how Mr. Sidgwick asked Miss Clough to 
 undertake this post, and how she finally agreed to do so 
 in May 1871. She paid her first visit to Cambridge 
 soon after this, in order to make acquaintance with the 
 place and with the people with whom she was to work. 
 In the course of the summer Mr. Sidgwick took and 
 furnished No. 74 Eegent Street, and in September Miss 
 Clough entered into possession. 
 
 The undertaking was, as I have said, practically a 
 private venture of Mr. Sidgwick's, and was quite distinct 
 from the lectures organisation, though many of the same 
 people were interested in both. The management was in 
 Miss Clough's hands, but after a time she had a Committee 
 to help her, which included the following ladies : Mrs. 
 Adams, Mrs. Cayley, Mrs. Albert Dicey, Mrs. Peile, and 
 Mrs. Venn ; and from the first Mr. Sidgwick gave her 
 constant help and advice. The house of residence began 
 work in October 1871 with five students, after Christmas 
 the number rose to seven, and after Easter to eight. 
 
 Before giving any account of the internal life of this 
 little community, and of the characteristics of Miss Clough's 
 work as its head, I propose to give its external history, 
 
156 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 and the history of the whole movement up till 1880, when 
 Newnham College was established on its present basis. 
 
 Miss Clough soon came to the conclusion that the 
 house in Eegent Street was not well suited to her purposes, 
 since it was in the centre of the town, without a garden, 
 and very noisy, and she accordingly set to work to find 
 another house. She succeeded in finding a rambling old 
 house, called Merton Hall, buried among apple trees in a 
 large garden on the edge of the town, and there the colony 
 moved in 1872, to its great satisfaction. 
 
 In 1873 so many students applied to be taken in, that 
 Merton Hall would not hold them, and a supplementary 
 house was taken in Trumpington Street. Miss F. M. 
 Hutchins, a friend of Miss Clough's, and afterwards Principal 
 of Aberdare Hall, Cardiff, very kindly took charge of it, 
 and remained there till 1875, when it was no longer 
 needed. This provided for seven students, Merton Hall 
 took fourteen, and eight more were provided for in lodgings 
 or with friends. In the Easter term still more out-students 
 had to be arranged for. 
 
 Unfortunately, the landlord of Merton Hall required 
 the house for his own use, and Miss Clough's stay there 
 had to come to an end in the summer of 1874. When 
 the notice to leave was given in the year preceding 
 this, the Committee and the friends of the undertaking 
 took counsel together as to the next step. In a circular 
 printed soon after, they say that "a search throughout 
 Cambridge has convinced the promoters of the scheme of 
 the impossibility of finding a suitable house already built," 
 and that " it has therefore been decided to build a large 
 house in the vicinity of Cambridge for the reception of 
 students." It was decided to raise a portion (3000) of 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 157 
 
 the necessary funds by forming a company and allotting 
 shares, and to supplement this by subscriptions and dona- 
 tions, for which an appeal was made to the public. The 
 shares of the company were quickly taken up by friends, 
 and in a few months the promoters received sufficient 
 assurance of eventually getting the money required to 
 justify them in taking some land on lease from St. John's 
 College and beginning to build. 
 
 The new company was only concerned with providing 
 a hall of residence; the management of the lectures was 
 still quite distinct, and remained in the hands of the 
 Lectures Committee, which had in 1873 been formally 
 constituted an Association for promoting the Higher 
 Education of Women in Cambridge. 
 
 The new house could not possibly be ready till the 
 autumn of 1875, and this left Miss Clough and her 
 students without a home for a year. However, two 
 adjacent houses were found in Bateman Street, into 
 which they were packed in October 1874. It is said 
 that it was by much personal persuasion that Miss Clough 
 induced the builder and owner of the houses to make a 
 door of connection between them, and to fall in with an 
 ingenious plan of hers, by which he and his family occupied 
 the ground floor of one house, and she and her students 
 spread themselves over the upper floors of one and the 
 whole of the other house. 
 
 Though friends came forward very generously, and a 
 large part of the sum needed for building the new hall was 
 subscribed before long, it was not to be expected that the 
 whole amount (which eventually came to about 10,000) 
 could be got without effort. Miss Clough and all con- 
 cerned in the undertaking were naturally very anxious to 
 
1 5 8 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 start with as little burden as possible on the income of the 
 institution, and they worked hard in making the matter 
 known, and in appealing to all who might be interested in 
 it. Miss Clough wrote a leaflet for distribution among 
 friends, which gives her view of the situation. After a 
 few words about the lectures scheme, she writes : " It is 
 well, before saying any more, to draw attention to the 
 remarkable fact that these lectures were a free-will offering 
 of higher culture made to women by members of the 
 University, to enable them to pass with credit the ex- 
 amination for women over eighteen, which had been 
 granted by the University in 1868 on receipt of a 
 memorial praying for such an examination." Then after 
 some account of the subjects taught, she goes on to speak 
 of the service rendered by the house of residence. " In 
 this way a number of women of different occupations, and 
 different stations in life, and different religious persuasions, 
 have been brought together to receive at least some share 
 of academic education. So far the result has been very 
 satisfactory ; there has been much kindly feeling and good 
 fellowship among the students, and their close proximity 
 to the town, while opening to them a much greater variety 
 and extent of teaching than they could otherwise have 
 obtained, has also enabled them to attend their own places 
 of worship. 
 
 " The expenses of the house, though they have been 
 kept as low as was compatible with health and comfort, 
 have from the first been somewhat greater than the 
 receipts ; but so long as the scheme was regarded as an 
 experiment, they have been willingly borne by one or two 
 persons. Now, however, that the lectures have taken their 
 place as a permanent institution, and, at the same time, 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 159 
 
 the increasing number of our students renders it desirable 
 to provide increased accommodation, we venture to appeal 
 to the public for support. It may perhaps be thought 
 that the growing popularity of the scheme ought to make 
 it a financial success. But it is an essential part of our 
 plan to offer academic education on the lowest possible 
 terms to those who are preparing to be teachers ; accord- 
 ingly, we receive such students for three-quarters of the 
 ordinary payment (15 instead of 20 for the term of 
 eight weeks). This sum merely pays board, service, etc., 
 leaving nothing for rent or management; but even this 
 payment is somewhat heavy for the scanty resources of 
 this class of students, and we are anxious to be able to 
 reduce it still further. And thus the increase in our num- 
 bers must be expected to be, financially speaking, a burden 
 rather than a gain. It is on this ground that we ask for 
 donations towards building, in order that the annual ex- 
 penditure of the house may not be too much swelled by 
 interest to be paid on the original outlay. If we are right 
 in thinking our object one of national importance, surely the 
 burden which it entails should not be thrown entirely 
 upon residents in Cambridge, much less should members 
 of the University, who are already giving their time 
 ungrudgingly, be called upon to give money also. These 
 lecturers are not rich, their time is much occupied with 
 other duties, and yet they take on themselves voluntarily 
 much additional work, and for a most trifling remunera- 
 tion, that of one guinea per student for each course of 
 lectures during a term of eight weeks. They teach in 
 most cases two hours weekly, set questions and look over 
 papers besides. All persons preparing to be teachers are 
 admitted to these advantages for half-price. Thus the cost 
 
160 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 of education alone is reduced to a comparatively trifling 
 amount. 
 
 " As the Principal of Merton Hall, I have had constant 
 opportunities of watching this work and seeing the results, 
 and I can bear witness to the great pains bestowed on the 
 students with very good success. I do feel strongly that 
 the efforts made by University men in their own University 
 to give to women the best educational advantages deserve 
 to be recognised by the public, and I cannot but hope that 
 when all they have done is known, support will be given 
 to the scheme they have devised and so generously carried 
 out." 
 
 I cannot help mentioning some of those who, by 
 their help at this time, did so much to make Newnham 
 College. 
 
 Among the first subscribers was Miss Ewart, who sent 
 1000, a piece of timely munificence which was most 
 encouraging to those at Cambridge, Miss Ewart had been 
 interested in the lectures scheme, and had subscribed to 
 the Exhibitions Fund since 1871, and from 1875 up to 
 the present time she has been a member of the Newnham 
 Council, and a constant and most generous friend to the 
 College. Miss Alice Bonham Carter was another generous 
 subscriber. She was treasurer to the Newnham Hall 
 Company at this time, and, like Miss Ewart, has been on 
 the Council ever since. Another name on this list is that 
 of Mr. Stephen Winkworth. It would be impossible to 
 say how often Newnham has had occasion to be grateful 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Winkworth since this time. Miss 
 Clough felt that members of the University ought 
 not to be asked to contribute in money, since they had 
 already given so much in time and trouble, but many 
 
The Starting of Newnham Cot lege 161 
 
 Cambridge names are in the list. For instance, Mr. Sidg- 
 wick, Dr. and the Misses Kennedy, Dr. and Mrs. Bateson, 
 Professor Adams, Mr. Peile, Mr. Alfred Marshall, Mr. 
 Coutts Trotter, Mr. Hammond, Mr. Main, Mr. E. T. Wright, 
 Mr. F. M. Balfour, Dr. Gaskell. 
 
 The Council of the newly formed Company (who were 
 all shareholders) consisted of the following : 
 
 Chairman, Mr. Coutts Trotter (Fellow and Tutor, and 
 afterwards Vice-Master of Trinity College), Mrs. Adams, 
 Miss Balfour (now Mrs. Henry Sidgwick), Miss A. Bonham 
 Carter, Miss A. J. Clough, Mr. A. V. Dicey, Mrs. A. V. 
 Dicey, Miss Ewart, Mr. Peile (Fellow and Tutor, and now 
 Master of Christ's College), Mr. Henry Sidgwick, Mr. 
 W. C. Sidgwick, Mr. E. T. Wright, Fellow of Christ's 
 College. Miss A. Bonham Carter was Treasurer, Miss 
 Clough was at first called Hon. Secretary, but this post was 
 soon after taken by Miss M. G. Kennedy. 
 
 Miss Clough took advantage of her old connection with 
 Liverpool to appeal there for help. More than one gift to 
 the Cambridge movement had already been spontaneously 
 made from Liverpool ; the Ladies' Educational Society of 
 Liverpool, which Miss Clough may be said to have founded, 
 and of which she had for some time been secretary, col- 
 lected a sum of money as a testimonial to her. This, at 
 her request, was used to found a scholarship for Liverpool 
 girls, which was to be held at Newnham Hall, and was 
 called the Clough Scholarship, In 1873 Mr. James Aikin 
 of Liverpool had given 1000 to the Lectures Association 
 at Cambridge, the interest of which was to be used in 
 supplementing the fees of advanced classes where the 
 numbers were small. Now, in answer to Miss Clough's 
 
 appeal for help in building the new Hall, Mr. Aikin came 
 ii 
 
1 6 2 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 forward again, and Mr. William Eathbone, Mr. Eichard 
 Eeynolds Eathbone, and others, gave valuable help. 
 
 Birmingham was known to be interested in education, 
 and Miss Clough was advised to appeal for help there also. 
 Accordingly she made an expedition to Birmingham early , 
 in 1875, with Miss M. G-. Kennedy, who had many friends 
 there, and it was arranged that a public meeting should be 
 held, under the auspices of the Birmingham Educational 
 League, at which Miss Clough and Mrs. Fawcett 
 should tell their story and make their appeal. This plan 
 was carried out, and with good results. Mrs. Fawcett 
 made an effective speech, and Dr. Dale, Dr. Crosskey, and 
 other leading men in Birmingham, spoke with approval of 
 the Cambridge scheme. Mr. Vardy read an interesting 
 letter from Professor Seeley, in which he sets forth that 
 view of its origin, which Newnham, under Miss Clough's 
 influence, has always wished to maintain. Professor 
 Seeley says : " Miss Clough's institution came into existence 
 in a very unpretending way, and it may perhaps be thought 
 by some to be naturally destined to make room for some- 
 thing more elaborate and costly, as the cause of Higher 
 Education for women comes more into fashion. But I think 
 this is not so, and that the simple Cambridge machinery will 
 be found all the better and all the more lasting because it 
 suggested itself so very naturally, and almost, so to speak, 
 created itself. It is all the better for a college, as for 
 other institutions, when it is not made, but grows." He 
 goes on to speak of the teaching power to be found at 
 Cambridge, and of the many other advantages which come 
 from " the plan of nestling, so to speak, into one of the old 
 Universities." 
 
 Help was given to the building fund by a number of 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 1 63 
 
 Birmingham sympathisers. One anonymous benefactor 
 took shares to the amount of 500, the interest of which 
 was to be spent in a scholarship, called the Birmingham 
 Scholarship. 
 
 The result of all these efforts on the part of the pro- 
 moters of the scheme, and of the generosity of a large 
 number of people, was that, at the annual meeting of the 
 Company in June 1876, the treasurer was able to announce 
 that with the help of 2800 raised in shares, enough 
 money had been received in donations to meet the cost of 
 the house and furniture and the laying out of a garden 
 of two acres. The house was planned to provide rooms for 
 the Principal, thirty students, and a resident lecturer. 
 One room was allotted to each student as joint sitting- 
 room and bedroom, the size of the rooms being decided 
 according to the advice of sanitary experts. There were 
 also four common sitting-rooms and a large dining-room. 
 The part of Cambridge in which the house was placed is 
 known as Newnham, and it was therefore called Newnham 
 Hall. This first building now forms part of what is known 
 as the Old Hall of Newnham College. By great efforts the 
 house was finished and made habitable by the appointed 
 time, and in October Miss Clough was established there, 
 with twenty-seven students, and Miss Paley whose work 
 in Moral Sciences had in 1874 received high approval 
 from the Tripos examiners as resident lecturer. 
 
 The Council of the Newnham Hall Company took no 
 breathing space after completing the Hall, but at once 
 found additions and improvements necessary. At the 
 annual meeting in June 1876, they reported that a gym- 
 nasium and chemical laboratory were urgently needed, and 
 the following year they announced their decision to add 
 
1 64 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 three rooms to the Hall. All these undertakings were 
 carried out in the next two or three years. 
 
 In spite of much generosity, there was naturally great 
 pressure on the Company's finances. Though the cost of 
 the original building and of the garden had been covered 
 by the shares and donations, only a small part of the cost 
 of the much-needed additions was met by subscriptions, 
 and the remainder had to come from the income of the 
 Hall. The Council was anxious to keep the fees low, and 
 to help as many as possible of those who could not pay 
 even those fees, so that strict economy had to be observed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the number of women anxious to come to 
 Cambridge for the sake of the lectures was increasing even 
 more rapidly than before. The Committee of the Lectures 
 Association appointed a Sub-Committee to watch over those 
 students who wished to come to Cambridge, but could not 
 be taken in at Newnham. In 1876 there were about 
 fourteen such students, and the following year the Sub- 
 Committee took a house, and found a lady to take charge 
 of it. In that year there were still twelve students in 
 lodgings, and in the following year, 1878, another small 
 house was taken. But in the year 1879-80, besides 
 the thirty students at Newnham and twenty in the two 
 supplementary houses, there were about twenty-five in 
 lodgings. ' All those who were not at Newnham were under 
 the authority of the Sub-Committee of the Lectures Associa- 
 tion, and were watched over and cared for by its secretary, 
 Miss M. G. Kennedy. It was natural, under these circum- 
 stances, that the Lectures Committee should report that 
 the accommodation of so many students had been a subject 
 of considerable anxiety to the Lodgings Sub-Committee. 
 
 It was clear that another house was needed, but it was 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 165 
 
 not at first clear whether it should be built by the Newn- 
 ham Hall Company or by the Lectures Association. After 
 some consideration, it was decided that the two organisa- 
 tions should amalgamate. The Newnham Hall Company 
 was to be wound up and the Association dissolved, and a 
 new Association, " not for profit," formed, under the name 
 of " The Newnham College Association for advancing 
 Education and Learning among Women in Cambridge." 
 This new Association was to build a second Hall, and to 
 undertake the management of that and the existing Hall. 
 It was also to take over the organisation of lectures and 
 teaching, which had been the work of the old Association, 
 and also all that it had been doing in awarding scholar- 
 ships and giving pecuniary help to poor students. This 
 plan was finally agreed to in May 1879, and in the 
 following year the Newnham College Association came 
 into existence, and Newnham College was established on 
 its present footing. 
 
 The decision to build was taken long before the con- 
 clusion of the legal arrangements, which were not completed 
 until the spring of 1879. The question how a new Hall 
 was to be paid for was the first thing to be considered. The 
 Lectures Association had acquired, through donations and 
 subscriptions, a capital of 1000, which it was fair to 
 devote to the building, since it would include lecture-rooms, 
 for which rent had hitherto been paid, since the classes had 
 outgrown the rooms kindly lent by Mr. Clay. A further 
 sum of 2000 from a fund described as devoted to helping 
 the education of women was provided by an anonymous 
 hand. " The rest," as one of the official documents remarked, 
 " might probably with an effort be raised by donations." 
 " The rest" meant nearly 9000, as the estimate for the 
 
1 66 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 new building was not less than 11,000. However, it 
 was thought safe to proceed, and a second piece of land 
 was taken from St. John's College, just to the north of 
 Newnham Hall, and divided from it by a public footpath. 
 Here a building to hold thirty -six students, a Principal or 
 Vice-Principal, and resident lecturers, was erected. More 
 than 2000 was at once promised in Cambridge alone, and 
 in the next two or three years very nearly the whole sum 
 was subscribed. The balance was paid by degrees out of the 
 College income. It was settled that the name Newnham 
 Hall should be dropped, and that the two buildings should 
 be called the North and South Halls of Newnham College. 
 The whole College was to be under the principalship of 
 Miss Clough, but the new Hall was to be in the charge 
 of a Vice - Principal. It was not easy to find anyone 
 exactly suited to take this vice-principalship. Mrs. Henry 
 Sidgwick 1 had for some years taken a large share in the 
 work of the Association and of the Newnham Hall Com- 
 mittee. She had been treasurer of both since 1877, she 
 was on many committees and sub-committees, and before 
 her marriage she had resided for a term in Newnham Hall. 
 Now, when the question of the vice-principalship arose, she 
 and Mr. Sidgwick threw themselves into the breach. Mrs. 
 Sidgwick became for the time Vice-Principal of the College, 
 with charge of the North Hall, and she and Mr. Sidgwick 
 temporarily gave up their house in Cambridge and lived 
 in three rooms in the new Hall. 
 
 I have now told the history of the Hall of residence 
 which in 1880 developed into Newnham College, but I 
 have not given any adequate account of the organisation of 
 lectures and teaching, for the sake of which the Halls 
 
 1 Mr. Henry Sidgwick married Miss Balfour in 1876. 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 167 
 
 existed, and which, when the Lectures Association was 
 dissolved, became an essential part of the work of the 
 college. 
 
 Though the two branches were formally distinct, they 
 were very closely connected, so much so that, though for 
 the sake of clearness it is necessary to describe their work 
 separately, it is almost misleading to do so. The same 
 people were involved in both, and most of those who were 
 on the Committee or Council of the Hall were also on the 
 Executive Committee of the lectures. Not only Mr. Sidg- 
 wick, who was in fact the founder of both undertakings, 
 but Miss Clough and the Misses Kennedy, and a little later 
 Mrs. Sidgwick, were active members of both, and there 
 were many others in the same position. The two organi- 
 sations worked in conjunction with each other, and each 
 helped in the other's work, so that from the time when 
 Newnham Hall was started, all that was done by either was 
 popularly described as done by " Newnham." Newnham 
 students got their education mainly through Association 
 lecturers, and formed the large proportion of the Associa- 
 tion classes ; and, on the other hand, Association students 
 not belonging to the Hall were watched over by Miss 
 Clough and the resident lecturers at Newnham, and when 
 Newnham College was formed, they were retrospectively 
 included in the list of former Newnham students. 
 
 The Committee which was formed in 1869 to arrange 
 for lectures for women had no formal constitution, but in 
 1873, as I have already mentioned, it was transformed 
 into an Association for Promoting the Higher Education of 
 Women in Cambridge, of which Professor Adams became 
 President. This was done partly to ensure stability and 
 partly to extend the interest in the movement, but mainly 
 
1 68 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 for financial reasons. It was thought important to secure 
 a regular income in order to meet the cost of hiring lecture- 
 rooms, and, if possible, to accumulate funds from donations 
 with which lecture-rooms might ultimately be built. By 
 the new constitution, subscribers of one guinea, donors of 
 not less than ten guineas, and professors who opened their 
 lectures to women, were entitled to become members of 
 the Association. 
 
 Tradition gives also another reason for the change. 
 It is said that it was found to be necessary, because Mr 
 Sidgwick, who, as secretary, made all arrangements con- 
 cerning the lecture-rooms, could not be induced to send in 
 any bills for such things as coals and gas, which were 
 nevertheless obviously consumed there, and it was supposed 
 that only the formality of a balance-sheet could meet this 
 difficulty. 
 
 The amount of educational work accomplished by the 
 Association and the number of women whom it helped is 
 really remarkable. The opportunities which it offered 
 were likely to attract any women at that time who had a 
 taste for study or wished to improve their education, 
 since there were then very few places where women could 
 get any help at all in their studies, and fewer still which 
 could provide such efficient teaching in such a variety of 
 subjects. The subjects in which teaching was offered were, 
 as has been said, for the most part those required for the 
 Higher Local Examination. Miss Clough, in her appeal for 
 help to the public, speaks of the plan which was followed. 
 
 " This examination includes the following subjects : 
 English language, literature, and history ; arithmetic ; 
 languages, ancient and modern ; mathematics ; certain 
 branches of natural science ; logic, and political economy ; 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 1 69 
 
 harmony; and drawing. The lectures scheme has made 
 provisions for almost all these subjects, together with one 
 or two more, and is capable of being extended. This wide 
 range of studies is well suited to the requirements and 
 present attainments of women. They are encouraged to 
 begin with familiar subjects, such as arithmetic, history, 
 English language and literature, and then to take up 
 whatever special department may interest them most. 
 Having thus obtained the University certificate, they are 
 encouraged to proceed further in the line of studies they 
 have chosen, which, having learnt the value of thorough 
 and systematic teaching, the Cambridge students are 
 usually anxious to do, if they are able to prolong their 
 residence ; " and she adds : " Several who have left early 
 have expressed their intention to return and continue 
 their studies as soon as they can afford the expense." 
 
 The examinations did not involve advanced study, 
 but they encouraged thorough work, and the ground 
 covered by the papers in each subject was enough to 
 make the preparation for them interesting. The students 
 of that time certainly found it so, and clearly took a keen 
 interest in the teaching and in their own reading. 
 
 I have already mentioned the names of a few of the 
 lecturers. Later students are sometimes tempted to envy 
 the early students some of their privileges. Professor 
 Seeley lectured to them for some years on modern history, 
 Professor Cayley taught them algebra, Mr. Jebb gave a 
 course of lectures on Macedonian history and another on 
 Milton, and Mr. Sidgwick, besides lecturing regularly on 
 his own subjects, gave occasional courses on English litera- 
 ture ; and there were other lecturers not less distinguished. 
 
 Besides arranging these special lectures and classes for 
 
1 70 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 the women students, the Committee were successful in 
 obtaining their admission to a share in the teaching 
 already provided in the University. 
 
 Several of the University professors had been for a 
 long time in the habit of admitting women to their lectures, 
 and in 1873, in answer to an inquiry from Mr. Sidgwick 
 as secretary of the Association, twenty-two out of the 
 thirty-four professors of the University granted formal 
 leave to women students to attend their lectures, and a 
 few years later this twenty-two had grown to twenty- 
 nine. In the case of several of the professorial lectures 
 there were special reasons against opening them to women, 
 and, in particular, the admission of women to the medical 
 lectures was not asked for either at that or any later 
 time. Gradually, also, women were admitted to lectures 
 given in College halls or lecture-rooms. St. John's College, 
 even as early as 1871, permitted one of its Fellows and 
 lecturers, Mr. Main, to give instruction to women students 
 in the chemical laboratory of the College, and this Mr. 
 Main constantly did, usually at an early hour, such as 
 8.30 A.M., before demonstrations for undergraduates began. 
 This continued till the Newnham laboratory was built in 
 1879. But Christ's was the first College to admit women 
 to lectures in its precincts, and the occasion of this was 
 curious. Mr. Jebb was to give a course of lectures on 
 Macedonian history to women in the room hired by the 
 Committee. Some undergraduates belonging to Christ's 
 College, seeing the announcement of these lectures, asked 
 leave of the Tutor (Mr. Peile) to attend them. Mr. Peile 
 referred the question to the Master, and the Master, after 
 deliberation, proposed that Mr. Jebb should lecture in the 
 hall of Christ's, and that the women should attend his 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 1 7 1 
 
 lectures there. This was done, and after that time the 
 students were admitted to certain other lectures in Christ's 
 College. King's College next gave them leave to attend 
 Mr. Oscar Browning's lectures, and not long after, certain 
 lectures at Trinity were opened to them. 
 
 Even if there were not many to bear witness to what 
 was done in the early years of this movement, the mere 
 printed reports and announcements of lectures would show 
 the anxious zeal with which the Committee tried to pro- 
 vide for the needs of all its students, and to give them 
 every possible help and advantage. Before any formal 
 list could be published of the professors whose lectures 
 were open to women, students were invited to apply to 
 Mr. Sidgwick for information on the matter. It was 
 announced that if any students should find the lectures on 
 languages too advanced, efforts would be made to provide 
 additional instruction for them. When certain professorial 
 lectures on natural science were opened to them, the Com- 
 mittee arranged for supplementary teaching for those who 
 needed it. Then, too, in some of the announcements advice 
 was given as to which lectures students of one subject or 
 another should attend. Students not belonging to Newn- 
 ham Hall were told they could receive advice from one of 
 the resident lecturers there ; and students who had passed 
 the Higher Local Examination, and wished to carry their 
 studies further, were requested to communicate with Mr. 
 Sidgwick. 
 
 When Mr. Sidgwick framed the scheme of lectures in 
 1870, he intended that, while the more elementary lectures 
 should prepare students for the Higher Local Examination, 
 more advanced teaching, supplementing the professorial 
 lectures opened to women, should enable those who had 
 
1 7 2 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 passed through this preliminary trial, and wished to go 
 further, to go through a complete course of academic 
 education in one or other of the departments into which 
 academic study is divided at Cambridge, and which form 
 the subjects of the Honours Degree Examinations. There 
 were some among the earliest students who wished to take 
 advantage of this part of the scheme, and special interest 
 was taken in their work, though there was some difficulty 
 in providing teaching for them, as classes for such small 
 numbers were necessarily costly. Since the main object 
 in view was to secure the best system of education for 
 women, Mr. Sidgwick and those who were working with 
 him were anxious to lay stress rather upon the teaching 
 than upon examinations; still it was recognised that the 
 work done by the students ought to be properly tested 
 and certified at the end of their course. The question how 
 this could best be done was, however, left to be decided 
 when the occasion should arise ; and long before this time 
 arrived, the success of certain bold steps taken by the 
 Hitchin College Committee had made it possible to look 
 forward to the admission of women students to the Honours 
 Examinations of the University. 
 
 It was an essential part of the scheme of those who 
 started the College at Hitchin and founded Girton College 
 to obtain the admission of women to the Degree Examina- 
 tions of the University. Their efforts were from the first 
 directed to the attainment of this end, and it was kept in 
 view in the plan of study framed by the College Committee 
 for their earliest students. These first students began at 
 once to work on the lines laid down by the University for its 
 undergraduate members. In November 1870 the Committee 
 applied to the Council of the Senate for permission to use 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 173 
 
 the papers set for the Previous Examination, and to make 
 private arrangements with the examiners for looking over and 
 reporting on the answers. The Council, after due delibera- 
 tion, resolved not to express disapproval of the course 
 proposed, and the entire responsibility was thus thrown 
 upon the examiners. The examiners saw no objection to 
 the plan, and five students from Hitchin were examined in 
 December 1870, and passed successfully. This was a 
 useful precedent, and gave reason to hope for the success 
 of further steps ; but the really significant point was 
 gained two years later, early in 1873, when the examiners 
 in the Classical and Mathematical Triposes, the most 
 important examinations of the University, were asked to 
 examine three of the College students in the Tripos papers, 
 and consented to do so. All the three candidates passed 
 successfully. The following year the Lectures Associa- 
 tion presented two candidates for the Moral Sciences 
 Tripos, and the College, which had in 1873 removed to 
 Girton, presented one for the Natural Sciences Tripos ; 
 and from this time some women students from Girton, 
 and some belonging to the Association, were each year 
 informally admitted, by the courtesy of the examiners, 
 to the Tripos Examinations; until, in 1881, these examina- 
 tions were formally opened to women by the University. 
 
 The privilege was held on a very precarious tenure, 
 since in each case it depended on the view of the 
 matter taken by the individual examiners. But though it 
 occasionally happened that one or more of the examiners 
 in a particular Tripos disapproved of the practice and 
 declined to examine the women, on every occasion there 
 were some examiners who were willing to undertake the 
 task ; so that the women students were never prevented 
 
174 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 from taking the examinations, but in a few cases their 
 papers were looked over only by one examiner instead of 
 by two. The opportunity which was thus given to the 
 two Colleges by the courage of the Girton Committee and 
 the kindness and goodwill of the examiners was of the 
 greatest importance to the future career of both, since it 
 prepared the way for their formal recognition by the 
 University and all that was involved in this. 
 
 The examination of the women students was properly 
 described as informal, because it was done by private 
 arrangement, and was not authorised by any ordinance of 
 the University ; but it was conducted in each case strictly 
 in accordance with the rules applicable to the regular 
 candidates. The papers were done by the women in the 
 time allotted for the men, on the same days, and as nearly 
 as possible at the same hours, and under the supervision of 
 an M.A. of the University. 
 
 In the actual conduct of the examination, both Girton 
 College and the Association adhered strictly to the Uni- 
 versity regulations ; but the two Committees held different 
 views as to the necessity of insisting also on the exact 
 fulfilment of the preliminary conditions which the University 
 imposed on its own members. The Girton Committee 
 exacted strict conformity with the rules laid down for 
 undergraduate candidates. Their students, before entering 
 for a Tripos, were required to pass the Previous Examina- 
 tion, and to reside at College for the precise number of 
 terms prescribed by the University. The Lectures Associa- 
 tion, on the other hand, required all students who wished 
 to enter for a Tripos Examination to give evidence of 
 general education, and expected them, as a rule, to prove 
 this by passing the Higher Local Examinations ; but it 
 
The Starting of Nezvnham College 175 
 
 did not require or, indeed, encourage them to take the 
 Previous Examination, and it did not insist upon exact 
 adherence to the rules as to terms. 
 
 The position of the Girton Committee on this question 
 was perfectly clear and logical. They believed that it 
 would be of great service to the cause of women's educa- 
 tion generally if they could prove conclusively that women 
 were capable of the same intellectual work as men, and it 
 seemed to them that any difference in the conditions 
 observed would weaken their case in the judgment both of 
 the University and of the world outside. 
 
 The view taken by the Association was that it was 
 undesirable, in the interests of the individual students con- 
 cerned, to insist on the regulations enforced on under- 
 graduates, and that this course was not necessary in order 
 to convince the University that women were capable of the 
 work required for the Tripos Examinations. In the first 
 place, Mr. Sidgwick and others did not wish to encourage 
 women to use the Previous Examination, because they dis- 
 approved of making classics compulsory either for men or 
 women. In the second place, they knew that few of the 
 women students had received an education which would 
 serve as preparation for a University course ; and it seemed, 
 therefore, reasonable, and for their advantage educationally, 
 to allow them a longer time at Cambridge before taking 
 the final examination than was granted to undergraduates, 
 whose previous education had been arranged with a view 
 to a University career. No one, knowing the point from 
 which the women students started, would suppose that the 
 places they took in the Triposes were due to any unfair 
 advantage in the time allowed for preparation. Some of 
 the earlier students, and indeed some of the later ones also, 
 
1 7 6 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 who took the Classical Tripos, began both Latin and Greek 
 when they came to Cambridge. Those who guided the 
 counsels of the Association were themselves members of 
 the University, and they held that, from the University 
 point of view, the important point was the Tripos itself, 
 and that, in forming a judgment as to the intellectual 
 capacity of women, the University would be influenced 
 mainly by the result of this test, and would not, for this 
 particular purpose, attach much weight to the preliminary 
 conditions. 
 
 According to the plan adopted by Newnham and the 
 Association before 1881, only the students who were 
 capable of taking Honour courses were prepared for the 
 Degree Examinations, and those, in most cases, only after 
 they had obtained honours in the Higher Local. At first 
 the number of students thus prepared was not a large 
 proportion of the whole, and therefore the Association was 
 chiefly occupied in providing for those who took other 
 courses. 
 
 At the present time, when there are universities and 
 university colleges in many parts of the country, and 
 innumerable other opportunities of education open to 
 women, it is possible for the Cambridge colleges to reserve 
 themselves for those students who are able to make the 
 best use of the advantages which Cambridge offers ; but 
 twenty years ago, those women who needed help in their 
 studies, and could not find it at Cambridge, were likely to 
 remain unhelped. There were, of course, then, as now, 
 many women who were anxious to learn and to be taught, 
 but who were not able to devote themselves for long to this 
 one object, or to be long away from their homes or their 
 other occupations ; and, owing to the unsatisfactory state 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 177 
 
 of girls' education, those who wished to learn were at all 
 stages of knowledge or ignorance. In order to provide 
 adequately for all these, it was necessary to adopt a very 
 elastic system, which could be adapted to the very various 
 needs of the individual students. Newnham and the 
 Association accordingly accepted and provided for many 
 students who could only stay for two or three terms, or 
 even less ; and though most of them worked for the Higher 
 Local Examinations, they were not required to take any 
 examination, and no subjects were made compulsory. 
 Each individual was advised and helped to follow the line 
 * of study which seemed to be the most likely to be profit- 
 able to her. 
 
 It was soon made evident that the opportunities thus 
 given were fully appreciated, and really met a genuine and 
 widespread need. I have already spoken of the rapid 
 increase in the number of students who came from a 
 distance to attend the lectures. In 1871 there were five, 
 and in 1880 there were eighty-five; and the Newnham 
 Council reported in that year that there had been two 
 hundred and fifteen such students during the past nine 
 years. But it was not the numbers only which were 
 encouraging, but also the zeal and earnestness of the 
 women students, and the benefit which they clearly re- 
 ceived from their stay in Cambridge and their work there. 
 Many of them intended to teach, and some had already 
 begun work as teachers, and for these even a few months' 
 study at the University was of great value. It could not 
 but improve the quality of their work as teachers ; and if 
 it enabled them to pass one of the groups of the Higher 
 Local Examination, their professional position was likely to 
 
 be improved also. It was, too, no doubt, particularly 
 12 
 
1 78 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 important to teachers, at this time of transition, to get 
 some share in the new opportunities, since they were in 
 danger of falling behind their times, and of being sup- 
 planted by younger women who had greater advantages. 
 And besides those who needed education in order to earn 
 their livelihood, there were many women who had been 
 struggling to educate themselves without help and under 
 many difficulties, and to whom this opportunity gave the 
 keenest satisfaction. 
 
 The number of students who came to Cambridge for 
 the lectures at this time is perhaps more striking evidence 
 of the strong and widespread desire for learning among 
 women, than is the larger number who came later. For, 
 in the early years, the attractions which the women's 
 colleges now offer, by the way, as it were, the pleasant 
 buildings and gardens, the social life and games, were a 
 much less prominent feature in the prospect. It is true 
 that many of these things were to be found at Merton and 
 Newnham Hall; but those who could not be taken in 
 there and the number of these was large could expect 
 nothing more attractive than a boarding-house or a lodging 
 in an unknown town. These out-students did indeed find 
 something more than this ; for not only were they, as well 
 as the students in the Hall, stimulated and helped by the 
 teaching and encouraged by the interest shown in the 
 work of each individual, but they received an amount of 
 kindness from the ladies of the committee, and in par- 
 ticular from Miss Marion Kennedy, who took charge of 
 this large flock, which would by itself have made it worth 
 while for them to come to Cambridge. 
 
 This plan of allowing such students as could not be 
 taken in at one of the houses of residence to live in 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 179 
 
 lodgings in the town under the supervision of a committee 
 of ladies, was an expedient to which the Association 
 resorted for a few years, on account of the pressure of 
 numbers and the difficulty of refusing to receive those 
 who were so eager to take advantage of the opportunities 
 offered. It was given up when the second hall at Newn- 
 ham was built, and since that time only students who are 
 over thirty years of age, or who are living with their 
 parents or guardians, are allowed by the college rules to 
 live outside the college ; but the fact that so bold a course 
 was followed for several years with complete success is 
 an additional proof of the genuine zeal of these students. 
 
 The Lectures Association very soon had the satisfac- 
 tion of knowing that their work was not only useful to the 
 students themselves, but that it was helping to improve 
 the education of girls generally. In the Eeport of 1880 
 it is stated that of the two hundred and fifteen students 
 who have attended the lectures, fifty are teaching in 
 schools, and that nine of these are head mistresses. 
 
 The Lectures Association was anxious to bring the 
 lectures within the reach of women of scanty means, and 
 especially of those who were intending to teach, and various 
 plans for giving help were invented and carried out. For 
 a long time, teachers were admitted to the lectures at half- 
 price, and a fund was started to help any women who 
 wished to come to the lectures, but could not afford to do 
 so. After some years, when the number of students had 
 much increased, more formal arrangements were made. 
 The fees were no longer reduced, but first grants and then 
 loans were made to applicants who could give evidence of 
 their need for help and of their intellectual qualifications. 
 In 1880 this fund was taken over by Newnham College to 
 
180 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 be used as a loan fund, and it is still in existence, and is 
 constantly used. But such grants and loans were only 
 supplementary to the help given in the forms of scholar- 
 ships or exhibitions which were awarded on the results of 
 the Local Examinations. Very generous help was given for 
 this purpose. Mr. Mill and Miss Taylor were, as I have 
 said, the first to come forward ; the Miss Ash worths of 
 Bath (now Mrs. Ashworth Hallett and Mrs. J. K. Cross) 
 gave an exhibition for several years ; Mrs. Garrett Ander- 
 son also gave an exhibition ; Mrs. Adams (the wife of 
 Professor Adams) gave others ; and many Cambridge and 
 other friends subscribed freely to the general exhibitions 
 fund. In 1876, too, Mr. Phillips Jodrell offered to give 
 six exhibitions of 25 each for three years, and to lend 
 whatever was needed, in addition, to cover the expenses 
 of the exhibitioners at Cambridge. An appeal was made 
 to the London Companies, and several of these responded 
 generously. Eventually, the Clothworkers', the Drapers', 
 and the Goldsmiths' Companies each established scholar- 
 ships to the amount of 100 annually. Thus, when in 
 1880 the resources of the Lectures Association and the 
 Newnham Hall Company were united, it was found that 
 the annual value of the scholarships attached to Newnham 
 College amounted to 600. 
 
 One of the most remarkable features in this educa- 
 tional movement at Cambridge is the generosity and 
 willingness to make personal sacrifices shown by a number 
 of persons, and especially by members of the University 
 and residents in Cambridge. The sums of money sub- 
 scribed to enable women to profit by the teaching are in 
 themselves sufficiently striking. A number of people 
 subscribed small sums, and a few rich people showed 
 
The Starting of Newnh am College 181 
 
 splendid munificence ; but what is especially noticeable in 
 the earlier subscription lists is the fact there recorded that 
 very considerable sums 20, 50, or 100 were repeat- 
 edly given by persons who were certainly not rich. And 
 Cambridge men not only gave money, they gave their 
 time freely. The lecturers gave their teaching for quite 
 inadequate remuneration, and often for none at all. Men 
 whose days were already filled with work, attended at 
 meetings of committees and councils, gave thought and 
 attention to details of organisation, and showed real 
 interest and desire to help the women students in every 
 possible way. When the women students were informally 
 admitted to the Tripos Examinations, it was necessary that 
 the papers should be written in the presence of an M.A., 
 and it was thought essential also that the process of trans- 
 ferring the papers from the examiners to the candidates 
 and from the candidates to the examiners should be con- 
 ducted by an M.A. This troublesome little business was 
 willingly undertaken gratuitously by various friends of 
 the movement. The first Newnham students who entered 
 for a Tripos Examination wrote their papers under the 
 surveillance of Dr. Kennedy at his own house, and the 
 papers were brought to them and taken back to 
 the examiners by Mr. Sidgwick, Mr. Alfred Marshall, Mr. 
 James Stuart, and others. This is only one small instance 
 out of many which might be given of the readiness on the 
 part of members of the University to take personal 
 trouble in order to secure the success of the experiment. 
 The whole history is one of disinterested zeal and of active, 
 intelligent sympathy with a genuine need, and is full of 
 instances of kindness and generosity which cannot be told. 
 In looking back on the early history of Newnham 
 
1 82 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 College, it seems clear that the circumstances of its origin 
 and the lines on which it was conducted were particularly 
 well suited to gain the sympathy of the University for the 
 movement for the higher education of women. The work 
 was organised and carried on mainly by residents in Cam- 
 bridge, and many men of reputation and standing in the 
 University, and men of all political parties, were keenly 
 interested in it. It was carried on in the midst of 
 Cambridge, under the eyes of the University, and many 
 who were not interested before became so as they saw its 
 work. The modesty of the enterprise was in its favour ; 
 it asked for help on plain, practical grounds, for whatever 
 would enable women to get the education they desired, and 
 for such certificates as were necessary to secure them the 
 full advantages of that education. And, as I propose to 
 show later, Miss Clough's personality had a very marked 
 influence. It was impossible to associate her with anything 
 unfeminine, and her character gave an assurance to all 
 who came in contact with her, that any movement with 
 which she was concerned would be conducted with modera- 
 tion and with scrupulous consideration for the feelings of 
 others. There can, I imagine, be no doubt that these 
 things contributed much to the success of the whole move- 
 ment, and, in particular, did much to create that goodwill 
 which has been for many years so freely shown to women 
 students in Cambridge. 
 
 The first period of Newnham's career may be said to 
 have ended in February 1881, a few months after the 
 college was formally established, for it was then that the 
 University, by a vote of the Senate, granted to the two 
 women's colleges the privileges which have given them the 
 position they now hold. 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 183 
 
 This action was the result of an appeal made to 
 the University to formally admit the women students 
 to the degree examinations. The first step was not taken 
 by anyone connected with either of the women's colleges, 
 but by others who were interested in the higher education 
 of women, and had watched from a distance what was done 
 by the students at Cambridge. Early in 1880, a student 
 of Girton College, Miss Charlotte Angas Scott, was in- 
 formally examined for the Mathematical Tripos, and was 
 reported by the examiners to have been equal in pro- 
 ficiency to the eighth Wrangler. This achievement 
 attracted considerable attention and impressed many 
 people. A petition to the Senate of the University was 
 drawn up and circulated by Mr. and Mrs. Aldis of New- 
 castle, in the spring of 1880, and received more than 8500 
 signatures. This petition set forth that repeated instances 
 of success on the part of women students in the degree 
 examinations, " and notably an instance in connection 
 with the last Mathematical Tripos, show that many women 
 desire sound training in higher learning, and also desire 
 to have the results of that training authoritatively tested 
 and certified, that the present plan of informal ex- 
 amination is unsatisfactory, and that consequently the 
 undersigned persons interested in the Higher Education 
 of women pray the Senate of the University to give 
 women the right of admission to the degree examinations 
 and to degrees." 
 
 Those who were responsible for the women's colleges 
 regarded the step thus taken with some misgiving. It 
 seemed quite possible that the Senate might refuse the 
 request, and when once their opinion on the subject had 
 been definitely expressed, future examiners would probably 
 
184 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 not feel justified in admitting the women students to the 
 examinations informally, and the position of the colleges 
 would be considerably worse than before. But, since the 
 question had been raised, the Executive Committee of 
 Girton College and the Committee of the Lectures Asso- 
 ciation also drew up memorials setting forth their re- 
 spective views. 
 
 The Girton memorial begins by disclaiming all re- 
 sponsibility for that which has already been sent to the 
 Vice-Chancellor, and goes on to make a statement as to 
 the work done by the students of Girton College, telling 
 how they have duly qualified themselves according to the 
 University regulations for candidates for a degree, and 
 giving the numbers of such qualified students who have 
 been informally examined in the Ordinary and Honours 
 Degree Examinations. The Committee then submitted 
 that by this experiment the practical working of degree 
 examinations, as regards the students of Girton College, 
 has been sufficiently tested to justify the University in 
 taking their case into serious consideration, with a view to 
 their formal admission to the B.A. degree. They con- 
 clude by stating their belief that by thus formally and 
 officially recognising the claims of women to a share in 
 the highest education of the time, the University would 
 do an important public service, and would add to the 
 gratitude and loyalty already so largely called forth by 
 former measures in the same direction. 
 
 The memorial of the Lectures Association, which was 
 signed and forwarded by Professor Adams, not only dis- 
 claims all connection with Mr. Aldis's memorial, but 
 takes exception to its statements. The Lectures Com- 
 mittee object to the disparaging terms in which the 
 
The Starting of New n ham College 185 
 
 existing arrangement is described. They declare that, 
 in their opinion, it has rendered an important service to 
 the education of women at a critical period of its de- 
 velopment, and that this service could hardly have been 
 so easily and conveniently rendered in any other way ; and 
 they state that they have been anxious not to precipitate 
 the termination of the provisional state of things by 
 urging the University to any official action in the matter, 
 until such time as it" should be generally thought that 
 their experiment had been fully tried. But since the 
 question has been raised by others, they think it opportune 
 to state that, in their opinion, sufficient evidence has now 
 been obtained of the success of the scheme of academic 
 education which they are engaged in conducting, and 
 which has now been carried on for a period of ten years ; 
 that they consider the existence in the country of a 
 serious and steady demand for this education to have been 
 completely proved. They would therefore welcome any 
 arrangement by which the connection that has practically 
 existed for some years between the University examina- 
 tions and the academic instruction provided for women in 
 Cambridge, may be put on a more formal and stable foot- 
 ing. They then give a brief explanation of the plan on 
 which they have proceeded in recommending students to 
 the Tripos Examiners, mentioning that, considering the 
 actual state of the ordinary education of girls, and the 
 influence their action might be expected to exercise on 
 schools, they have thought it inexpedient to adopt the 
 Previous Examination as a compulsory part of their 
 system, and that they have also thought it undesirable to 
 prepare candidates for the Ordinary Degree Examinations, 
 but that on these, as on other points, they are willing to 
 
1 86 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 conform to any regulations that the University authorities 
 may think fit to lay down. 
 
 A fourth memorial was signed by one hundred and 
 twenty-three members of the University. This expressed 
 general approval of the measure proposed by the Lectures 
 Association, namely, that the present arrangement should 
 be placed on a more formal and stable footing. 
 
 In June 1880, a Syndicate was appointed to consider 
 four memorials relating to the encouragement to be given 
 to the Higher Education of women. In the course of the 
 autumn eleven additional memorials were sent to the 
 Syndicate, all following the two first in asking for the 
 admission of women to the B.A. Degree. One of these 
 memorials was signed by five hundred and sixty-seven 
 non-resident members of the Senate, and the remainder 
 were from educational bodies. The report of the Syndicate 
 was issued in December 1880. The conclusions at which 
 they arrived are stated as follows : 
 
 "The Syndicate share the desire of the memorialists 
 that the advantages of academic training may be secured 
 to women, and that the results of such training may be 
 authoritatively tested and certified. For various reasons, 
 however, they are not prepared to recommend that women 
 should be admitted either to the degrees of the University 
 generally, or to the B.A. degree alone. They believe that 
 the two objects above mentioned may be in a large measure 
 attained, and a great encouragement be given to the 
 Higher Education of women, by the formal admission of 
 female students to the Honours Examinations of the 
 University, together with an authoritative record of the 
 results of their examination in published class-lists. The 
 advantages of allowing women to enter the General and 
 
The Starting of Newnham, College 187 
 
 Special Examinations for the ordinary B.A. degree, are 
 less obvious, and the Syndicate abstain from making any 
 recommendation on this head. They think that women 
 admitted to the Honours Examinations should be required 
 to have fulfilled the same conditions of residence as are 
 imposed on members of the University, and that they 
 should either have given the same evidence of preliminary 
 training by passing the Previous Examination, or one of 
 the various substitutes already accepted for it, or else 
 should have obtained an Honours Certificate in the Higher 
 Local Examination, with the condition of passing in certain 
 specified groups. They propose that the University should 
 grant to each successful candidate a certificate, setting 
 forth the conditions under which she has been admitted to 
 the Tripos Examinations, and the standard to which she 
 has attained." 
 
 The Syndicate proposed to give practical effect to 
 these conclusions by a series of regulations which were 
 recommended for adoption by the Senate. In one of these 
 proposed regulations it is laid down that the necessary 
 terms of residence are to be kept by the women students 
 either at Girton or Newnham College, or within the pre- 
 cincts of the University under the regulations of one of 
 these colleges, or at any similar institution which may be re- 
 cognised hereafter by the University by Grace of the Senate. 
 
 The Lectures Association had reason to be well satis- 
 fied with this report, which gave all they had asked for, 
 and sanctioned, in all its essential parts, the practice they 
 had hitherto followed. It was not entirely satisfactory to 
 the other memorialists, since it did not recommend admis- 
 sion to the degrees ; and the special regulations for women 
 which were proposed, as to the preliminary examinations 
 
1 8 8 Memoir of A nne J. Clotigh 
 
 and the exclusion from the Ordinary Degree Examinations, 
 were regretted by those who thought it of great importance 
 that the education of men and women should follow pre- 
 cisely the same lines. It was, however, recognised by all 
 who were interested in the higher education of women, 
 that the proposed regulations would be of great value, and 
 included as much as could be hoped for at this time, and 
 all were agreed in earnestly desiring that they should be 
 accepted by the Senate. 
 
 The recommendations of the Syndicate were embodied 
 in three Graces, and February 24, 1881, was the day 
 fixed for the vote in the Senate. The question was dis- 
 cussed in the Art Schools, according to the custom of the 
 University, about a fortnight before. It was remarkable 
 that on this occasion, with one exception, none of the 
 speakers opposed the principle of higher education for 
 women ; the only difference expressed was as to the means 
 of forwarding it. A notable incident in the discussion 
 was an eloquent and stirring speech from Dr. Kennedy, 
 the Eegius Professor of Greek, who was then considerably 
 over seventy years old, but was one of the most ardent 
 champions of women's education. Even the sternly official 
 University Eeporter was constrained to take the then 
 unusual course of reporting this speech in the first person, 
 and it is said that the members of the Senate present 
 disregarded all the precedents of that time and applauded 
 loudly. Dr. Kennedy ended thus : " So much do I think 
 the true honour of our University at stake in this matter, 
 that I could almost imitate an example once set on a 
 memorable occasion, and beseech the Senate on my knees 
 not to reject the Grace for confirming the recommendations 
 of the Syndicate." 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 189 
 
 The friends of the two colleges worked zealously to- 
 gether in seeking out all their supporters among the non- 
 resident members of the Senate, and urging upon them 
 the pressing need for their help on this critical occasion. 
 On February 16, a whip was sent to all members of the 
 Senate who had signed memorials in favour of the admis- 
 sion of women to University examinations. In this it was 
 stated that there was likely to be considerable opposition 
 to the proposals of the Syndicate, and opposition " on 
 grounds equally valid against any scheme which has been 
 advocated for extending to women the advantages of educa- 
 tion at the University," and that the rejection of these 
 proposals would not leave women in the same position as 
 before, but would undoubtedly involve the cessation of the 
 existing informal system. " The occasion is, therefore, 
 obviously a critical one for the future of female education, 
 and the attendance and support of those members of the 
 Senate who have signed memorials in favour of the admis- 
 sion of women to the University examinations is urgently 
 required." This was signed by the following : 
 
 J. C. Adams. N. M. Ferrers. John Peile. 
 
 K. D. Archer-Hind. W. H. H. Hudson. S. G. Phear. 
 
 W. H. Bateson. Henry Jackson. G. W. Prothero. 
 
 G. F. Browne. B. H. Kennedy. Henry Sidgwick. 
 
 Robert Burn. G. D. Liveing. James Stuart. 
 
 A. Cay ley. P. T. Main. Sedley Taylor. 
 
 E. C. Clark. J. E. B. Mayor. Coutts Trotter. 
 
 Among the supporters of the memorial there were a 
 considerable number of members of Parliament, and just 
 before the day of the voting it was found that they would 
 be needed in the House of Commons that afternoon. The 
 anxious Committee at Cambridge felt therefore lively grati- 
 tude to one of them, Mr. John Hollond, who chartered a 
 
1 90 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 special train to take them back to London directly their 
 voting was done. Those who were opposed to the pro- 
 posals were also active at first in collecting those who 
 agreed with them, but as the time came near, it became 
 practically certain that the Graces would be carried. It 
 was not thought worth while to summon large numbers to 
 no purpose, and the leaders of the opposition decided to 
 abstain from voting. A few only were resolved to express 
 their opinions, and thirty-two voted against the recom- 
 mendations of the Syndicate, and three hundred and thirty- 
 one in favour of them. 
 
 The Graces thus passed by the Senate were of immense 
 importance to women's education. Till now University 
 education for women had been in an experimental stage. 
 Those who were concerned in organising it, and those who 
 were sufficiently interested to watch what was being done, 
 considered it to be proved that a large number of women 
 desired it and were capable of profiting by it, but beyond 
 this circle it was looked upon as an unpractical fancy, 
 never likely to affect more than a small number of eccen- 
 tric women. But the sanction of the Senate of Cambridge 
 University gave an assurance that what had been done 
 was serious and was permanent, and the recognition of the 
 colleges brought them support and respect from new quarters. 
 
 It was an immense step gained that it should formally 
 be acknowledged by one of the great Universities that 
 women were capable of the studies needed for those 
 examinations by which the ablest men of each University 
 generation were tested, and the example set by Cambridge 
 made the other teaching Universities 1 more ready to give 
 
 1 The University of London had already, in 1878, opened all its degrees to 
 
The Starting of Newnham College 191 
 
 facilities to women. The immediate practical results to 
 the women students were important. They were now 
 certain of being admitted to the examinations for which 
 they were preparing, and if they were successful, they 
 obtained a certificate signed by the Vice-Chancellor of the 
 University, which, of course, carried far greater weight 
 than a college certificate or an informal letter from 
 an individual examiner. The advantage gained for the 
 higher education of women affected also the education 
 of girls in schools. The obvious value of the Vice- 
 Chancellor's certificate caused University- trained teachers 
 to be more sought after by the directors of schools ; it 
 became generally recognised that a college course was the 
 best preparation for the profession of teaching, the numbers 
 of such teachers increased, and through their influence the 
 standard of girls' education was raised. It is true that by 
 adopting the recommendations of the Syndicate, the Uni- 
 versity did not undertake to do more than examine the 
 properly qualified students of Girton and Newnham, and 
 that these students were still dependent on the courtesy 
 of individual professors and lecturers, University and 
 college authorities, for admission to lectures, libraries, and 
 laboratories ; but, as a fact, so much kindness and courtesy 
 was shown, that, except in a few special cases they had all 
 the practical advantages which are enjoyed by under- 
 graduate members of the University. 
 
CHAPTEK VII 
 
 LIFE AND WORK AT NEWNHAM COLLEGE 1871-1892 
 
 I have now given the outward history of Newnham up to 
 the time when it ceased to be an experiment, and acquired 
 an established position. 
 
 In the two following chapters I propose to give an 
 account of Miss Clough's work at Newnham, and of the 
 chief interests and occupations of her life after she came 
 to Cambridge. 
 
 It seemed as if the undertaking in which she was now 
 to be engaged was the opportunity for which she had been 
 waiting and watching all her life. She herself looked 
 upon it as the fulfilment of her desires, and once said to a 
 friend, who was impatient for happiness, " I had to wait 
 for mine till I was fifty." It was only now, in the last 
 twenty years of her life, and in her work at Newnham, 
 that her peculiar powers and the striking points of her 
 character were fully revealed. And it is only by describing, 
 as far as I can, what she was, and now showed herself to 
 be, that it is possible to give any account of her work, and 
 of the causes of her success in it. For this success was 
 due to the way in which she did a multitude of little 
 things, to the spirit which she infused into the whole move- 
 ment, and to the deep impression made by her character 
 upon all with whom she came in contact. 
 
 Professor Sidgwick has kindly given me an explana- 
 
 192 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 193 
 
 tion of the reasons which made him particularly anxious 
 to secure Miss Clough's help in carrying on the work 
 which he had begun in Cambridge, and of the point of 
 view from which, as it seemed to him, the undertaking 
 specially appealed to her. Professor Sidgwick says : 
 
 * When, in accordance with the general plan formed in 
 1870 for developing the system of lectures for women in 
 Cambridge, it became necessary to find a lady to preside 
 over the house destined to receive ' external students/ my 
 first idea was to ask Miss Clough ; and though her refusal 
 for a time turned my thoughts into other directions, T 
 never doubted that her acceptance of the post would be 
 the best possible thing for the new institution ; and when 
 she finally accepted, I had a great sense of satisfaction and 
 confidence with regard to the future. My desire for her 
 co-operation was partly on account of her long devotion to 
 the improvement of the education of women ; but it was 
 partly due to the fact that I thought she would be in 
 special sympathy with the plan on which I wished the 
 work at Cambridge to be conducted." 
 
 Professor Sidgwick then explains his wish to obtain for 
 women full participation in all the benefits of University 
 education without imposing on girls a servile imitation of 
 the system carried on in the secondary education for boys ; 
 and his consequent preference for the plan of working on 
 the basis of the Higher Local Examination. He then 
 continues : " I believed that this plan would be in close 
 accordance with Miss Clough's views, and my expectations 
 in this respect were completely realised. While desiring, 
 with a quiet intensity, which I gradually came to under- 
 stand, to throw open the advantages of University education 
 to women without limit or reserve, she cordially welcomed 
 13 
 
194 Memoir of A nne J. Clougk 
 
 the new examination, with its liberal scheme of options, 
 as adapted to the actual condition of girls. She saw 
 that the adoption of this as our preliminary examination 
 would establish a vital connection between the work 
 done in Cambridge and the work done throughout 
 England under the influence of the University; and the 
 idea that this new local examination, while benefiting 
 the education of girls throughout the country, might, 
 at the same time, be a means of selecting the most promis- 
 ing students from the country at large, and providing them 
 with a complete academic training, gave her special pleasure. 
 She also thought that the experience gained by Cambridge 
 teachers as to effects of the course of study practically 
 prescribed or encouraged by this examination would be 
 easily made accessible to the Syndicate managing the 
 examination, and would lead to improvements in it, the 
 advantage of which would accrue to a wider circle." 
 
 When she came to Cambridge in the early autumn of 
 1871, Miss Clough at once took her place in the little 
 band of Cambridge people who had now for nearly two 
 years been carrying on the work of the lectures scheme. 
 
 She was made a member of the Executive Committee 
 of the Lectures Association, and was later one of the Ladies' 
 Committee in charge of the students living in lodgings. 
 But her main work was, of course, the management of the 
 hall of residence, and it was in the internal life there that 
 her influence was chiefly felt. The success of the hall was 
 indispensable to the full development of the lectures 
 scheme, and the task of making it succeed was at first a 
 difficult and anxious one. 
 
 The girls who were under Miss Clough's charge during 
 the first year were most of them unknown to her, they 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 195 
 
 were not of the age nor in the position of schoolgirls, and 
 her authority over them was not defined either by tradi- 
 tion or by any constitution. And yet she and they had to 
 carry out together an experiment, on the success of which 
 depended the retention and development of valuable oppor- 
 tunities for women, and to carry it out in the midst of 
 Cambridge, and in the sight of many who would watch 
 them critically and disapprovingly. 
 
 Many people in the University disapproved strongly of 
 the presence of women students in Cambridge, and pro- 
 bably most people looked upon them with some suspicion. 
 If any inconvenience followed from their being there, or if 
 any individual among them deviated in the slightest degree 
 from the ordinary standards of society, it would be con- 
 sidered as a complete justification of this attitude. There 
 was, of course, also a widely diffused prejudice against all 
 women who desired opportunities of obtaining higher 
 learning. Such learning was thought to be incompatible 
 with the qualities most valued in women, and the desire 
 for it was supposed to be inseparable from revolutionary 
 views on other subjects. 
 
 Miss Clough was keenly alive to these things, and she 
 felt that the greatest caution and circumspection were 
 necessary, in order that the newly acquired privileges 
 might not be lost again. She was determined that they 
 should be used with the most careful regard for other 
 people's feelings, and that education should be kept quite 
 apart from other questions and causes, and she meant 
 to show that a desire for education, and even the posses- 
 sion of it, did not involve any departure from recognised 
 customs and conventions. These considerations were 
 constantly before her mind, and made her nervously 
 
196 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 anxious about every detail in the conduct of the women 
 students. 
 
 The early students were not unworthy of the occasion 
 and not without some understanding of the situation. 
 They had, in the first place, a genuine desire for learning, 
 and they felt it was for them to prove that they were 
 not frivolous triflers. They appreciated the value of the 
 teaching that was offered to them, and meant to show 
 that they could profit by it. They realised, too, that the 
 occasion was a critical one, and that much was at stake, 
 and they were not unwilling to make sacrifices. But they 
 were most of them old enough to have already tasted some 
 amount of liberty, and there were some among them who, 
 not unnaturally, thought that they could judge for them- 
 selves what it was or was not well to do, and who 
 consequently saw no necessity for Miss Clough's supervision 
 of their doings, and were not disposed to submit to her 
 authority. Nor was Miss Clough possessed of precisely 
 those qualities which were likely to make an immediate 
 impression on girls in this stage of development. She 
 was not learned, and her way of talking was rather con- 
 fused, and she seemed to them to be fussy and nervous, 
 and inclined to interfere unnecessarily with what they 
 chose to do. Miss Clough herself said afterwards that 
 she had had much to learn at this time, and she certainly 
 made mistakes at first, and was not skilful in dealing 
 with the students. The difficulties of the situation were 
 aggravated during the first year by the fact that this 
 chance assorted family had to live in close quarters in a 
 house in a street and without a garden. Naturally this 
 year was a troublous one. 
 
 Mrs. Alfred Marshall, who was one of these first 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 197 
 
 students, and afterwards one of Miss Clough's dearest 
 friends, has given me her recollections of Miss Clough 
 and of their life at this time. She says : 
 
 " The first time I saw Miss Clough was at the Higher 
 Local Examination of 1871, when her white hair and dark 
 eyes and kindly ways made a deep impression on me. 
 Her appearance and manners converted my father to the 
 plan of my going to Cambridge, to which, before he saw 
 her, he had been averse. 
 
 "In October 1871, Mary Kennedy, Ella Bulley, Edith 
 Creak, Annie Migault, and I came to be with her at 74 
 Eegent Street, and in the following term we were joined 
 by Felicia Larner, and one or two others. We lived very 
 much the life of a family : we studied together, we had 
 our meals at one table, and in the evening we usually sat 
 with Miss Clough in her sitting-room. We did our best 
 to keep down household expenses : our food was very 
 simple; we all, including Miss Clough, not only made 
 our beds and dusted our rooms, but we helped to wash 
 up after meals, and we did the domestic sewing in the 
 evening. 
 
 "During that first year at Eegent Street there were 
 certain discomforts to be put up with. We went twice 
 a week to the town gymnasium, but otherwise walks were 
 our only form of exercise. We watched the undergraduates 
 playing games on Parker's Piece, and envied them, and no 
 doubt we made up for want of outdoor exercise by being 
 rather noisy in the house, especially at meals. I believe 
 we were all hard-working and well-intentioned, but during 
 that first year there was a good deal of friction between 
 Miss Clough and some of us. I think we were almost 
 entirely to blame, and I never cease to be astonished at 
 
1 9 8 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 our want of appreciation in those days. We did not 
 really understand her at all. I believe if she had had 
 more weaknesses and limitations, we should have liked 
 her better. We failed to see the great outlines of her 
 character, her selflessness, her strong purpose, her extra- 
 ordinary sympathy. She had some obvious faults of 
 manner, and these we did see and probably exaggerated. 
 She did not dress well or walk well, and she had a certain 
 timidity and irresoluteness. 
 
 " The venture of women's education in Cambridge was 
 a new one : she was, I think, a little afraid of us, and did 
 not know what we might do next. She had not had much 
 to do with girls of our age before, and perhaps she treated 
 us too much like schoolgirls. She did not quite enter 
 into our notions of fun ; perhaps she took things a little 
 too seriously, and so she did not gain our full confidence 
 in those early days. 
 
 " And, then, we lived too much together. I believe we 
 should have appreciated her more if we had not been 
 obliged to be so constantly with her. One has to see 
 persons from a distance as well as near to appreciate 
 them. When we moved to Merton Hall in October 
 1872, everything went better. . . . We had several 
 tables for meals ; she had her own room ; when we were 
 together, it was from choice, not from necessity. We got 
 into the habit of studying in our own rooms. We had a 
 delightful garden, and games and more amusements, and 
 we began to understand her better and the privilege of 
 living with her. But it was not till I ceased to be a 
 student that I realised her wonderful goodness and great- 
 ness." 
 
 After the first year it seems that Miss Clough's 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 199 
 
 authority was to some extent defined by rules. She 
 consented to this, and to a plan of life which was less 
 like that of a family, because the students strongly desired 
 it, but she did so with regret. Another student of this 
 time tells me that in her opinion Miss Clough's manage- 
 ment during the first year was not satisfactory, but that 
 what remains most vividly impressed upon her mind in 
 connection with it is the wonderful magnanimity which 
 Miss Clough showed in wiping out all remembrance of 
 past differences and accepting the new state of things 
 without any sign of dissatisfaction. 
 
 The students of this time perhaps hardly realised 
 Miss Clough's devotion to their interests and the interests 
 of this new undertaking. They knew and appreciated the 
 sacrifices of time and labour made for them by their 
 lecturers, for Miss Clough would not allow them to be 
 ignorant of these things, and they heard, too, from her 
 that Mr. Sidgwick had given up his holiday in Switzerland 
 in order to meet the expenses of the house of residence 
 which he had established, and understood something of 
 what they owed to him. But they probably did not know 
 that she also was giving her money freely, as well as her 
 time and energy, to provide them with the opportunities 
 which they enjoyed. It must be said that though some 
 of these early students did not appreciate Miss Clough at 
 first, they came to know her better before long, and were 
 for the rest of her life among her warmest friends ; while 
 she, on her side, felt that their experiences together 
 created a tie between them, and had always a quite 
 special affection for them. It is noticeable that some 
 of the characteristics which injured Miss Clough in the 
 esteem of the students were a distinct advantage to 
 
200 Memoir of Anne J. Clotigh 
 
 her in her relations with the critical world outside, and 
 smoothed the path for her enterprise in Cambridge. Her 
 appearance was at anyrate unimpeachably feminine, and 
 her timid, hesitating manner dispelled all idea of the 
 " capable woman " who is an object of antipathy to many. 
 
 Many years later Miss Clough wrote down some 
 reminiscences of the next two years, 1872-1874, from 
 which I give the following extracts : 
 
 " I had decided that we must leave 74 Eegent Street. 
 The noise was too great both back and front, and we were 
 too much in public. I looked about, and found Merton 
 Hall, and there, in the autumn, we moved. (I think that 
 when we moved some friends helped, Mrs. Bonham Carter of 
 Eavensbourne for one ; Mr. Sidgwick was always most kind 
 and helpful. The first year he paid the rent, and bought 
 the furniture to start with.) The new house was old and 
 picturesque, with a lovely garden, but the students' rooms 
 were very poor ; several had to share rooms. The garden 
 seemed to make up for all, and the quiet. We were shut 
 in from Cambridge in a corner among trees and shrubs 
 and creeping plants, which bowered us all round. Our 
 sitting-rooms opened on the garden. What did it matter, 
 if now and then, in very heavy rains, there came a rush of 
 water through the dining-room ? 
 
 " Now our plans were altered, for it seemed desirable to 
 be more collegiate. The family life must be at an end, so 
 I submitted to what seemed a necessity. Several small 
 tables were started in the dining-room, but I always kept 
 one companion with me. I think Miss Fanny Hutchins 
 came to stay with us in the Lent term, and helped me 
 very much. Minnie Hensley was ill, and a great cause of 
 anxiety. 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 26 1 
 
 " There was much going out to St. John's College, to 
 the Batesons, and pleasant parties there, and there were 
 Sunday evening visits to Mr. Marshall's and Mr. Hudson's 
 rooms ; also we visited the Kennedys at the Elms, and 
 went to Mrs. Peile, and sometimes to the Venns and the 
 Adamses ; and we made acquaintance with Mr. Main. 
 We had parties two or three times a term, and we met 
 odd people now and then. A professor from Western 
 America came with his wife to Cambridge, and Mr. 
 Marshall invited us to meet them. The lady was a 
 lawyer, and told us about her practice, and how she spoke 
 in court. She was very sweet-looking and quiet in her 
 ways. Mr. Sidgwick brought people to the house occasion- 
 ally, among them Mr. A. J. Balfour; I think he came 
 twice. Mr. Venn, too, rode sometimes with the students ; 
 he took them to the Fens. The Miss Kennedys were 
 constantly very good to us, and Dr. Kennedy. 
 
 " In October, a great many students applied to enter. 
 I ventured to take No. 7 Trumpington Street, and Fanny 
 Hutchins kindly took charge of the house. But this was 
 not enough, for two went to live with Mrs. Potts in the 
 October term, and four in the Lent term, and Miss Nunn 
 and Miss Ogle were in lodgings. I had great support 
 from Fanny Hutchins. 
 
 " The garden was a great resource in the May term, 
 very beautiful and luxuriant. There was the trailing 
 Pyrus japonica about the arbour. The girls played under 
 the trees : they tried croquet and cricket ; they happily 
 could not do cricket. They had debates under the great 
 medlar tree, and some went rides. Their life was a joy 
 to them, but they did work. Amy Bulley and Mary 
 Paley and Mary Kennedy were working at the Moral Science 
 
202 Memoir of Anne /. C lough 
 
 Tripos, Miss Creak and Miss Vokins at Mathematics ; Miss 
 Creak also at Classics. 
 
 " These two years were wonderfully bright and exciting, 
 full of movement and change. There were a great variety 
 of students with Merton and the other house in Trump- 
 ington Street. The St. John's Fellows named it Sandford, 
 so we were Sandford and Merton, Miss Hutchins and I. 
 Then there were the students who lived in lodgings to be 
 attended to, among them Miss Ogle, who was very interest- 
 ing and very industrious. She was looked after by Miss 
 Hutchins, I looked after Miss Emily Nunn. She formed a 
 great friendship with Mrs. Smith (the widow of William 
 Smith, who came to spend some time in Cambridge), and 
 this was a great pleasure to her. 
 
 " There were many complications. The young people 
 were feeling their freedom, and they wanted a little more. 
 They agreed fairly ; but still there were feuds in a mild 
 way sometimes. And for the managers there were con- 
 stant difficulties. It was as if one was picking one's way 
 with all this large party. There was a faint path, but as 
 we walked, I felt that the path closed up behind us, the 
 leader could not go back, what was done was accomplished. 
 So one had to be very wary, very careful. They were 
 anxious years, but one did not feel them very much, for 
 so many kind friends were around. There was so much 
 sympathy, so much help, and the young people were willing 
 for the most part to be led. Their great interest in their 
 studies, their anxieties about the examinations, the feeling 
 that so much was being done for them, their reverence and 
 respect for their teachers, all united to keep them steady. 
 
 " In looking back, it seems to me that one of the great 
 things I have to be thankful for was that I was able to 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 203 
 
 be very silent about what happened. Many difficulties 
 were constantly arising about society matters and the 
 conduct of the students, but I was for the most part 
 silent, and did not either speak or write about these 
 matters ; so they passed over. There was always a great 
 deal to like in the students, I may say in every one, and 
 in those days one could know them, one's mind was not 
 filled up with the photographs of those who had gone, as is 
 the case now. [There was] the pleasure, too, of living in 
 Cambridge, of daily walking over the bridges and among 
 the bowering gardens, the visits to the races, the watching 
 the sunsets over the river on those festive occasions ; they 
 stay in the memories of all who belonged to us in our 
 early years. . . . 
 
 " At this time we had to look forward to leaving Merton 
 Hall in October, and had to find a new house. There was 
 great agitation about building a new Hall. Mr. Sidgwick 
 worked hard, and the Batesons and the Kennedys. Miss 
 Ewart promised a thousand pounds, other friends joined 
 and a Company was started, which, with the help of dona- 
 tions, was to undertake the building of the new Hall. We 
 hoped at one time that we might remain in our sacred 
 precincts, close to the school of Pythagoras, where the 
 ancient monks from Ely had taught, but the Hall and 
 garden were let, and we were obliged to depart. So the 
 fairy college, with its rambling rooms, its doors and 
 windows leading into the garden, the old orchard covered 
 with blossoms in spring, the long shady walks and arbours, 
 the medlar tree under whose shade the students held their 
 debates, were all deserted. 
 
 " With much difficulty a new house was found for the 
 college in Bateman Street ; two newly-built houses were 
 
204 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 secured. They were close to Dr. Kennedy at the Elms, 
 and we saw much of him and the Miss Kennedys. We 
 had the advantage, too, of being near the Botanical Gardens. 
 While here, Mary Paley and Amy Bulley went in for the 
 Moral Sciences Tripos. They had the papers, and they 
 went to the Elms and wrote under the care of Dr. 
 Kennedy. It was an exciting, anxious time. We heard 
 at last, just before they left, that Mary Paley had been 
 placed in the First Class by two of the examiners, and in 
 the Second by the other two. Amy Bulley had a Second 
 Class." 
 
 By the end of the two years spent at Merton Hall, 
 Miss Clough had fully established her authority, and had 
 won the respect and affection of most of the students ; and 
 as time went on, more and more of them came to under- 
 stand her in some measure, and to appreciate some of the 
 remarkable points in her character. 
 
 The year in the Bateman Street houses was probably 
 uncomfortable for everyone, and was certainly laborious 
 to Miss Clough; for, besides attending to all that con- 
 cerned the present students and corresponding with future 
 ones, she had to superintend the building and furnishing 
 of the new Hall and the laying out of the garden. 
 
 There was the usual difficulty in getting the building 
 finished by the appointed time, and this difficulty was 
 increased at the end by a strike among the workmen 
 employed on it. Miss Clough treated this obstacle as she 
 treated all others, merely as an occasion for showing 
 energy and resource. With characteristic indifference to 
 general principles and established customs, she went to 
 the builders and obtained permission to deal directly with 
 the men on strike, and then proposed to the men that she 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 205 
 
 should herself pay the difference of wages which was the 
 cause of dispute. The men accepted the offer, went to 
 work again, and with a great effort the house was made 
 ready in time. 
 
 When they were once established in Newnham Hall, 
 Miss Clough and her students found themselves in very 
 pleasant circumstances. They had now a good dining-hall, 
 a library and other sitting-rooms for the students, and the 
 students' own rooms were nearly all of them pleasant and 
 convenient. Each student had a room to herself, which 
 was furnished so as to serve both as study and bedroom, 
 and the common sitting-rooms were always available. They 
 had fires in their rooms when they liked, Miss Clough 
 once said she thought the reason girls liked being at 
 Newnham was that they had fires in their rooms, and 
 they could and did see one another and give tea-parties 
 and cocoa-parties among themselves freely. 
 
 Wide passages ran the length of the house on each of 
 the four floors, and made it light and airy. I believe it 
 was at Miss Clough's desire that the passages on the 
 upper floors ran quite through the house, and were lighted 
 by a window at each end. There was a nice view each 
 way, across the garden and to the open country to the 
 west, and over other gardens and trees to the towers and 
 spires of Cambridge a little below to the east. Miss 
 Clough took particular pleasure in these views, and said 
 it was cheering to look out as one walked about the pas- 
 sages. Her own room was picturesque and attractive, and 
 she became much attached to it. There, too, she had the 
 sunset view, which was her special delight. 
 
 The Hall was well placed. It was less than a mile 
 from the centre of the University, but at that time it 
 
206 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 was the outermost house in that direction, and beyond it 
 to the west there were only fields and gardens. There 
 was at that time a garden of two acres, which gave space 
 for lawn tennis on the grass, and a little later a gym- 
 nasium was built and an ash tennis-court made, so that 
 the students had now plenty of opportunities for exercise. 
 Miss Clough took a deep interest in the laying out of the 
 garden, in which she was helped and guided by Mr. Peile 
 and, I think, also by Dr. Venn. She watched over the 
 trees with great anxiety, and had a special regard for a 
 medlar tree, planted in remembrance of Merton Hall. 
 
 When Newnham Hall was opened, one of Miss 
 Clough's first five students, Miss Paley (Mrs. Alfred 
 Marshall), was appointed a lecturer in Political Economy 
 by the Lectures Association, and came to reside in the 
 Hall, and help in the care of the students. This was an 
 immense pleasure to Miss Clough, and she needed help in 
 her work. 
 
 In these early years her work was heavy. It 
 was, for one thing, very miscellaneous. She had the 
 general supervision of the students, which included 
 the care of their health, and some work in taking them to 
 entertainments and special lectures. Miss Alice Gardner, 
 who was a student of Newnham in 1876, mentions, for 
 instance, that when inter-collegiate lectures were first 
 opened to women, Miss Clough accompanied some of the 
 students as chaperon to a course of lectures which were 
 given three times a week, at eleven in the morning, during 
 an exceptionally rainy term. Miss Gardner adds : " Of 
 course she did not let this seem to be an act of self- 
 denial ; she was so much interested in Eoman history, and 
 it was nice for her to hear lectures on it again." She 
 
Life and Work at Newnharn College 207 
 
 had the management of the household without help till 
 1876, and never wholly gave it up, and she took a large 
 part in the arrangement of the students' work. 
 
 The time and trouble required for this last can best 
 be shown by describing the way in which it is organised 
 at the present time. 
 
 There is now an Educational Committee, whose chief 
 function is to see that all necessary teaching is provided. 
 The Principal who is not now, as Miss Clough was, 
 in charge of a Hall represents this Committee in all 
 matters of ordinary routine; and there is a lecturer, 
 usually resident, in charge of each branch of study. 
 The Principal and these lecturers between them make 
 all arrangements as to the work of each student, the 
 lectures to be attended, the finding of teachers, and the 
 time and place of the lectures. The Vice-Principals in 
 charge of the halls know what arrangements have been 
 made, and what work each of their students is doing, and 
 are constantly consulted by both students and lecturers as 
 to the best course of study for particular individuals, but 
 the actual work of arranging about the teaching very 
 seldom falls to them. 
 
 All the work which is now divided in this way was in 
 the early years done by Miss Clough in consultation with 
 Mr. Sidgwick, though, of course, for a much smaller 
 number of students. Miss Clough talked over each 
 student's work with her, and when it was decided what 
 course she should follow, procured advice for her from 
 one of the lecturers, settled what lectures she should 
 attend, and if special teaching was required, made the 
 necessary arrangements for it. Mr. Sidgwick took a large 
 share in this. He discussed their work with many of 
 
208 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 the students, gave advice about nearly all, and found the 
 lecturers required. 
 
 At the present time, too, the organisation of the work 
 is in many ways easier. Nine out of ten of the students 
 are taking a perfectly regular course of study, which has 
 been foreseen and provided for, a number of them are 
 working at each branch, and the experience of many years 
 has made the way clear in most cases. In those days few 
 students were working at the same subject and at the 
 same stage of it ; the students who worked for the Higher 
 Local Examinations took many different combinations of 
 subjects, and the best plans had to be slowly discovered 
 by experience. 
 
 For a long time, also, there was a great deal of business 
 to be done. Before the Newnham Hall Company was 
 started, Miss Clough did all the secretarial work con- 
 nected with the house of residence, and all the business 
 involved in moving from one house to another. After the 
 Company was formed, Miss Marion Kennedy became 
 Honorary Secretary, and Miss Alice Bonham Carter 
 Honorary Treasurer. But Miss Clough still did a great 
 deal of correspondence with the future students, and 
 naturally had much to do with the choosing and taking of 
 the land and the building of the Hall. And, too, the 
 necessity of appealing to the public for money involved an 
 immense amount of letter -writing, besides the visits to 
 Liverpool and Birmingham. 
 
 Miss Clough's work was much lightened by the help 
 and sympathy of those who were interested in the under- 
 taking. She got the greatest pleasure and support from 
 her intimate friendships with several of her fellow-workers, 
 with the Miss Kennedys, who gave her counsel and 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 209 
 
 practical help at every turn, and with Professor and Mrs. 
 Adams, and Dr. and Mrs. Peile. Mr. Coutts Trotter, 
 Tutor and afterwards Vice-Master of Trinity College, was 
 one of her most valued friends. He was Chairman of the 
 Newnham Hall Company, and then Vice-President of 
 Newnham College. He was also a member of the General 
 Committee which transacts most of the executive business 
 of the college, and gave most valuable help and advice in a 
 number of matters, both small and great. And from 
 1876 onwards Mrs. Sidgwick took an active part in all 
 the work of the college. 
 
 For many years there was constant anxiety about 
 money, and the need of strict economy added to the 
 labour and difficulty of the whole undertaking. The 
 number of students wishing to enter college increased 
 rapidly, and Miss Clough and the Council were anxious 
 to make the new opportunities accessible to as many 
 as possible, and consequently there were few years in 
 which some addition to the building was not in progress, 
 and money had to be saved, as well as collected, to pay for 
 these additions. 
 
 The general educational policy pursued by the Council 
 of Newnham Hall, or, rather, by the Lectures Associa- 
 tion, had been determined before Miss Clough came 
 to Cambridge, and she was for the most part occupied in 
 carrying out principles which had been laid down by 
 others, but in some points her views had a material 
 influence upon the course taken. Professor Sidgwick 
 writes that it was under her influence that " the freedom 
 of choice which our plan of examinations would in any case 
 have allowed was extended in the early days of the 
 institution further than I had originally intended, and 
 
2 1 o Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 further than I was at first inclined to approve. She 
 wished every student to learn what was good for her, 
 whether her studies led to a University examination or 
 not ; and if the studies aimed at a Tripos examination, she 
 would allow the period of study to be prolonged beyond 
 the normal time, provided the teachers thought that the 
 prolongation would be an intellectual advantage to the 
 student. I remember feeling somewhat doubtful about 
 this irregularity, but she held strongly that at this early 
 stage the one thing was to do what was best for the 
 individual students, and make the most of our ' unchartered 
 freedom' for this end. The great point was to show 
 that young women could and would work steadily 
 at the subjects of academic study till they had mastered 
 them, and that especially considering the imperfections of 
 girls' education we were likely to show this better if we 
 hampered ourselves and them as little as possible by 
 restrictive conditions. The one condition which she 
 desired to maintain was that the student should be 
 adequately intelligent and industrious. And here again I 
 used to think her sympathies with individuals were opera- 
 tive on the side of the teachers. She felt strongly the 
 kindness of the college lecturers and other friends who 
 gave time and trouble often for very inadequate 
 remuneration to the teaching of our students, and was 
 sincerely anxious that their efforts should not be wasted. 
 In all this I ultimately came to think her policy was quite 
 right in this initial and tentative stage of our work." 
 
 Of all the characteristics which shaped and influenced 
 Miss Clough's work at Newnham, the most obvious and 
 the most generally recognised was her kindness. I have 
 already said that at all times of her life it was the quality 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 211 
 
 in her of which people spoke first, but there was now such 
 scope for its exercise that the remarkable elements in it 
 were more clearly perceived. It was closely connected with 
 her inexhaustible interest in human beings, and with her 
 power of taking every single human being as an individual. 
 She seemed able to care for an unlimited number of people, 
 and no one was ever to her merely a member of a class, a 
 student, or a servant, or a colleague they were simply A 
 or B or C ; and it seemed as if each were as distinct in her 
 mind and almost as important in her eyes as in their own. 
 She was genuinely and keenly interested in their lives, and 
 realised their circumstances and feelings vividly, and there- 
 fore her active mind was always devising ways in which 
 they could be helped and made happier ; and she showed 
 to innumerable people the sort of tender, understanding 
 kindness which only a few people can show to more than 
 a few. 
 
 This kindness was undoubtedly one of the chief causes 
 of the impression made by Miss Clough's character, but it 
 is exceedingly difficult to give any description of it which 
 will adequately account for that impression. For it showed 
 itself for the most part in little services and signs of 
 sympathy which were slight and unimportant in them- 
 selves ; but these little things were characterised in her by 
 a rare thoughtfulness and delicacy of perception, and only 
 an unusually rich and generous nature could have poured 
 out kindly feeling so lavishly on hundreds, and on many 
 whose only claim on her was that they were human beings. 
 It seemed that kindness in her was not, as in some natures, 
 like abundant streams of water flowing in particular 
 channels, but rather like the light, flooding every corner 
 from which it is not excluded. And yet, though there 
 
2 1 2 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 was in her an impulse of kindliness towards every human 
 being, she was not undiscriminating ; she did not regard 
 them all as equal in value, or fail to recognise merit and 
 demerit, and to show discernment in her likings. 
 
 The character of her kindness towards her students can 
 best be shown by a few examples. One of them writes 
 the following recollections of her time at college : 
 
 "Throughout the whole period I was suffering from 
 the result of a previous mental strain, which made work 
 practically impossible. I do not know whether Miss 
 Clough understood the keen disappointment and consequent 
 depression from which I was suffering (I had come up in 
 the hope that after a year's rest I should be well enough 
 to work, and perhaps take the Mathematical Tripos) ; she 
 could not have done so fully, for it was a point as to 
 which I was too wretchedly sensitive to speak much to 
 anyone, but with her quick sympathy and unerring tact 
 she did the utmost she could for me. I had a good deal 
 of unemployed time on my hands, and her consideration 
 led her often to ask me to do little things, such as gather- 
 ing and arranging flowers, taking messages, and so on, for 
 her. It was always a great pleasure to me to be of use 
 in such small ways, especially as these opportunities 
 necessarily brought me into personal contact with Miss 
 Clough ; and I need not say that the more one saw of her 
 in the little ordinary ways of life, the deeper became one's 
 sense of her absolute unselfishness and devotion. 
 
 " The wonderful faculty of personal interest in others, 
 which Miss Clough possessed, is almost too well worn a 
 subject, but as it was one of the characteristics which 
 impressed me most, I must say a word or two. So far as 
 my own personal experience goes, it was unique. There 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 2 1 3 
 
 was nothing of condescension in it, nothing of curiosity ; 
 it was simple, unaffected, unobtrusive kindness and 
 sympathy. There was nothing one was interested in that 
 did not interest her, no detail of one's personal or 
 family life that she was not pleased to hear about. 
 I well remember how she used to inquire about my 
 mother and father and sisters and brother, and how she 
 used to recollect what I had told her about them, and 
 was always ready to take up the subject of my personal 
 concerns just where we had left it. What strikes me 
 now, as I think of this, is, how exceedingly natural it all 
 was. There was obviously no effort or constraint about 
 it. She never had to pull herself together, as it were, to 
 try to make others feel at home with her, or to make the 
 attempt to interest herself in them. It was the ease and 
 the graciousness with which it was done that constituted 
 its greatest charm. 
 
 " The same genuine disinterested kindness marked her 
 practical everyday life, in deeds and words alike. She 
 never seemed to forget the wants of anyone in the house, 
 and where a special need existed, was always ready with 
 kindly acts of attention. One did not, indeed, require to 
 be in the house to be the object of her thoughtful care. 
 I remember, the term I was away through ill-health, how 
 kind she was in thinking over my prospects, and what 
 would be the best for me to do, whether I should be 
 wise to return the next term, or whether it would not be 
 better to degrade for a year and try to get some light 
 occupation, if I were fit for it, and so on, taking as much 
 interest in these concerns of mine as though she had not 
 a houseful of students, besides other friends, whose 
 necessities were also absorbing her. Very well, too, do I 
 
2 1 4 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 recollect her kindness during that last sad term when I 
 lost my mother. As soon as I could conveniently leave 
 home, Miss Clough arranged for me to spend a month in 
 Derbyshire with a most charming and attractive lady, a 
 dear friend of hers, Miss Julia Smith. I have a letter, 
 addressed to me at Lea Hurst, in which she writes, in her 
 quiet, straightforward, unaffected way, of the great change 
 which had come over me and my family, and ends : ' You 
 have still many around you to live for and to cheer, and 
 the memories of the past will be a help to you.' The 
 morning when, as a student at least, I took my final 
 leave of Newnham, lives very distinctly in my recollection. 
 I left by an early train, it must have been before eight 
 o'clock, for Miss Clough had not finished dressing, and 
 I said good-bye to her in her room. I well remember her 
 words, ' We shall not forget one another,' and I still have 
 among my treasures a little Japanese box she gave me 
 then, saying it would do to keep my brooches in." 
 
 Another student, who did not live in Miss Clough's 
 Hall, sends me an account of her acquaintance with her, 
 which is very characteristic. 
 
 She says : " I was in the North Hall, but the South 
 Hall students came over sometimes in the evenings to 
 dance, and I very often played the piano for them on 
 these occasions. Miss Clough, I suppose, saw one student 
 playing often and dancing little, and with her usual 
 kindness, she insisted one evening on someone else playing 
 and my dancing. She asked me, too, to come to luncheon 
 or dinner with her and have a talk. I went, of course, 
 and found her full of interest in all I was doing, and in 
 my past life, and in all my affairs and friends. In fact, 
 when I left her, I felt as though I had been talking to an 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 215 
 
 old friend. I often saw her during the year I spent at 
 Cambridge, and she always took the keenest interest in 
 my work. 
 
 " There was a question raised as to whether I should go 
 abroad or remain another year at Newnham. Both Miss 
 Clough and Miss Gladstone advised me to go to Germany 
 and study German and music, as in all probability I 
 should never get through the mathematics required for 
 a Tripos examination. I cannot tell you how good 
 Miss Clough was, and how much trouble she took for me 
 at that time. She wrote to friends of hers in Berlin to 
 find me suitable rooms and good teaching, and I have to 
 thank her friends in Berlin for all my happiness in 
 Germany. . . . From the time I first knew Miss Clough 
 she constantly wrote to me most kind, sympathetic letters, 
 and asked me often to stay with her. This I was only 
 able to do once, but it is a delightful memory." 
 
 Another student tells the following incident : " I 
 was one of those who stayed at the Old Hall (in which 
 Miss Clough was then living) when we all were up on the 
 occasion of the opening of the new buildings, and was 
 obliged to leave by a very early train the next morning. 
 Miss Clough, who was quite tired out herself, was rather 
 troubled at having to make one of the servants get up to 
 bring me breakfast, and made her promise that she would 
 go to bed again afterwards and get a good rest. But 
 before eight o'clock there was a knock at my door, and 
 there stood Miss Clough herself, with a little basket of 
 strawberries in her hand, and she said, ' My dear, I 
 thought it would be nice for you to have some straw- 
 berries for your journey, so I just came up to bring you 
 
2 1 6 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 And another says : " A friend of mine was in trouble 
 because she had no money to pay the fees for her last 
 year at college, so she explained matters to Miss Clough, 
 who very graciously lent her the money. Meeting her a 
 few days later with me, Miss Clough called her aside, 
 and asked her if she had any pocket-money to go on 
 with, saying she hoped she was not prevented from having 
 her little tea-parties." 
 
 And another little story illustrates Miss Clough's keen 
 observation, as well as her thoughtfulness. She had 
 noticed that one of the students, rather lately come, had 
 not yet made friends with any of the others. A party of 
 students, and this girl among them, were going to some 
 entertainment. Miss Clough called aside one of them, 
 who she knew would be kind and helpful, and said, 
 " My dear, perhaps you will be walking down with Miss 
 A., as I expect the others will have paired off." 
 
 She had an extraordinarily tenacious memory for 
 people. She never forgot her students, and her interest in 
 them never flagged. They knew that, however seldom 
 she saw them, she cared about their work and all their 
 concerns "just as if she had no one else to think about," 
 and that she would always be glad to see them, or to hear 
 news of them. 
 
 The way in which she remembered their families and 
 friends, their tastes and habits, became almost a joke. 
 One amusing little story which illustrates this is given 
 by Mrs. James Ward, a former student and lecturer of 
 Newnham, in an article on Miss Clough published in the 
 Journal of Education in 1892. Mrs. Ward says: "A 
 few months ago a student of eleven years back was on a 
 visit at the college. Coming down in the morning at the 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 217 
 
 usual time for breakfast, she was met by Miss Clough, 
 with a surprised and disappointed face. ' Why, my dear,' 
 she exclaimed, ' you always used to be late for breakfast ' 
 (this, no doubt, in the old days, had been something of a 
 grievance), * so I told them to keep so and so ' (things the 
 girl had preferred) ' hot for you till nine o'clock.' " 
 
 Almost everyone who knew her has some story of how 
 Miss Clough inquired after all their brothers and sisters, 
 and sometimes their nephews and nieces, by name, and 
 knew exactly what each had been doing when she last 
 heard of them. Miss Creak, one of her first five students, 
 mentions, for instance, how, when she last saw Miss 
 Clough in 1891, she asked, not only after her mother, but 
 after her brother, whom she had not seen since 1874, and 
 after his children, whom she had never seen. She was 
 not only pleased to hear about her students' relations, 
 she often made plans for their future careers, and laid out 
 a course in life for brothers and sisters that she had never 
 seen. On one occasion, when she became acquainted 
 with the brother of one of her students, she made up her 
 mind that he ought to go abroad, and years afterwards, 
 when she saw this student again, she asked if her brother 
 had gone abroad yet. It seemed as if she looked upon 
 the relations and friends of her friends as a welcome 
 addition to the circle of those in whom she was interested. 
 
 Her taste was catholic, and her interest and sympathy 
 were extended to the most different types of character. 
 She found something to say for the most opposite qualities, 
 and, as Mrs. Ward says, " she would tolerate one who was 
 indolent, on the ground that she had aesthetic tastes and 
 was musical, and another who was narrow and dogmatic, 
 on the ground that she had plenty of energy." She was 
 
2 1 8 Memoir of Anne J. Clotigh 
 
 skilful in finding out what was likable and interesting in 
 people, and made many valuable discoveries iu what 
 seemed the most unpromising material. She would 
 unearth all sorts of tastes and aptitudes ; one girl would 
 be found to be an enthusiast for flowers, and another, who 
 looked particularly severe and dry, had a gift for managing 
 children, and shy, reserved girls would show unsuspected 
 enthusiasm in talking to her of their work at classics or 
 science, or whatever it might be. And many people were 
 made happier by her recognition of what was good in 
 them, and by the encouragement which enabled them to 
 discover and employ their faculties. She took' many 
 considerations into account, too, in judging of character, 
 and estimated things at their true value. I remember on 
 one occasion hearing someone, in her presence, pour ridi- 
 cule on an unfortunate girl who had made herself absurd 
 by extravagant sestheticism both in dress and speech. 
 Miss Clough said nothing, but she told me afterwards 
 that this girl had come from an uncultivated home and 
 surroundings, and that her first introduction to ideas of 
 culture had, for the moment, intoxicated her, and led her 
 into extremes. 
 
 Everyone knew that she liked some students better 
 than others, and some students were much more intimate 
 with her than others. But it was always clear that she 
 knew a great deal about everyone by her own observation, 
 and I do not think anyone felt themselves overlooked, or 
 accused her of favouritism. The very few who were aware 
 that she did not like them, no doubt thought her unap- 
 preciative, but they did not think her unjust. The fact 
 that she had preferences only gave a more human and 
 natural character to her relations with them. And she 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 219 
 
 was on intimate terms with so many, that those who did 
 not know her well themselves, were almost sure to know 
 her through their friends. 
 
 It was difficult to say whom she would like, or 
 rather whom she would not like, and very different views 
 were held as to the qualities likely to attract her. She 
 astonished, and sometimes annoyed, the more brilliant and 
 distinguished students by the attentions she would bestow 
 on those whom they thought dull, stupid, and insignificant, 
 and some of them held that these characteristics had a 
 special attraction for her. Others were clear that she was 
 particularly drawn to those who were pretty and charming, 
 and were amusing to talk to. She herself once said that 
 she thought she liked those students best who gave her 
 the most trouble, and I knew of one student who heartily 
 wished she knew how to be troublesome, in order to get 
 better acquainted with Miss Clough. She meant, I think, 
 that those who gave her trouble gave her also the oppor- 
 tunity of getting to know them well, and of learning to 
 understand their problems, and often also of helping them, 
 and all these things were her particular pleasure. She 
 disliked rough, brusque manners ; but she was tolerant of 
 this, and of many other faults, when she thought they 
 were the result of circumstances. She disliked people 
 who seemed very sure of themselves, and those whom she 
 thought hard, and she had a difficulty in sympathising 
 with people possessed by one idea. But when once her 
 affection and respect had been won, she had infinite 
 patience with almost any faults. 
 
 From the beginning, Miss Clough threw her whole 
 heart into her new life, gave herself to it without reserve, 
 and made the college her home. She shared in the 
 
220 Memoir of Anne L C lough 
 
 students' lives, and hardly anything went on which she 
 did not know about and take an interest in. She joined 
 in the students' debates, and talked over the subjects 
 discussed as eagerly as anyone ; she followed the fortunes 
 of the smaller college societies, and sometimes attended 
 their meetings ; and she warmly supported and encouraged 
 the games. It was her doing that hockey was introduced 
 at Newnham in 1891. She set her mind upon it because 
 she said it would keep the girls warm in winter ; and she 
 got hold of those who knew about the game and discussed 
 the organisation of it, and roused interest by talking of it 
 with one and another at every opportunity. 
 
 Miss Hughes, the Principal of the Cambridge Training 
 College, was one of Miss Clough's students, and while at 
 college, she and one or two friends, started a Sunday 
 school for working men in a poor part of Cambridge. In 
 an account of Miss Clough, written for the Educational 
 Beview, Miss Hughes says, with reference to this under- 
 taking : " One of the originators of the scheme went to 
 tell Miss Clough about the experiment, and was quite 
 taken aback at the keen interest that Miss Clough at once 
 showed in the matter. She suggested improvements, 
 helped the movement in many ways, and was always 
 interested to hear about individual members of the class. 
 It is a pleasant memory for those who first started the 
 school to recall Miss Clough's visits to the class ; how she 
 talked to the men, and, with her sweet, unconscious 
 dignity, made them feel completely at their ease at once ; 
 how she was interested in their imperfect writing, in the 
 books they read, in fact, in everything that interested 
 them." 
 
 Mrs. A. W. Verrall, another former student, and a 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 221 
 
 lecturer of the college, sends me the following remini- 
 scences, which give some idea of Miss Clough's relations 
 with her students : 
 
 "I do not think that I knew very much of Miss 
 Clough till after I had been two or three terms at 
 Newnham. From the beginning she was very kind and 
 friendly to all of us new arrivals, and I well remember 
 how she herself drove down to the station at the end of 
 my first term with me and a friend who, like myself, had 
 not travelled alone before, took our tickets, and put us in 
 charge of Professor Seeley as far as London, where, as she 
 knew, we were to be met. I also remember the surprise 
 which I felt when, on my return for the second term, Miss 
 Clough referred to the eighteenth birthday which I had 
 had in the holidays, and which, of course, I did not expect 
 her to remember, even if she knew my age. But if I had 
 left at the end of my first year, I should have had very 
 little idea of what Miss Clough really was. 
 
 " It is difficult to say how one came to know her, but 
 I think it was chiefly from her great frankness and 
 simplicity of speech, whenever she saw a student alone ; 
 she also had a wonderful faculty of using the odd minutes, 
 which most people fill with small talk. Many of the 
 things which I can never forget were said on the way to 
 or from a friend's house, when we were driving together, or 
 while I helped her shut and bolt the college doors at 
 night. In those days she was always up and visible when 
 we returned after ten, so that there were more frequent 
 opportunities of short talks than was possible- when the 
 college was larger, and the general organisation more 
 complete. It is not everyone who would have used such 
 scraps of time to any purpose, but Miss Clough possessed 
 
222 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 the great art of leaving out the beginnings and ends, over 
 which so much time may be spent, and always going 
 straight to the middle of what was interesting. 
 
 " On one occasion in particular I remember a talk with 
 her as we drove out to dinner, which, more than any one 
 other thing, marks the beginning of my personal relations 
 with her. She had been vexed about something earlier in 
 the day, and had spoken very sharply to a student when 
 I was present, more sharply, or at least with more feeling, 
 I had thought, than the occasion warranted. The moment 
 the door of the cab was shut upon me, Miss Clough said to 
 me that she had been wrong in speaking as she had done 
 to Miss So and So, that she often was over hasty, and that 
 as a young woman she had a very quick temper. ' It is 
 often very difficult for me now, my dear,' she said, ' and I 
 want you to know that I do not always do at the moment 
 as I should wish to do. You must remember that I try to 
 be just, but I don't always succeed.' There are few older 
 women who would speak as frankly and simply as this to 
 a girl, and to a girl who stood in the relation of student to 
 Principal, but I have sometimes thought that one explana- 
 tion of Miss Clough's great influence over the young people 
 who surrounded her was to be found in her own keen sense 
 of the value of every individual, young and old, and of the 
 equality of every human being as such. Many older people 
 value, if one may so put it, their experience more than 
 themselves, and therefore have what seems to the young 
 an exaggerated sense of their own importance in the uni- 
 verse. Miss Clough always made one feel that the 
 personality of everyone was the essential thing, and ex- 
 perience an accidental advantage of the old which was, 
 as far as might be, to be placed at the disposal of the 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 223 
 
 young. She never referred to her own experience except 
 when such reference could help the younger woman, never 
 spoke as if it gave her the right to judge, but as if it 
 added to the data which formed the basis for judgment, 
 and we always felt in talking to her that she was quite as 
 ready to learn from the younger generation what their 
 inexperience had to teach her, as we could be to profit by 
 her experience. 
 
 " As time went on, and I came to know Miss Clough 
 better, I had many opportunities of seeing her alone, which 
 must have been much less easy as the college increased. 
 Throughout the last year or two of my student days, and 
 the two years of my lectureship, I never came back from 
 an evening engagement without going to Miss Clough's 
 room to tell her what I had been doing, just as one tells 
 one's mother all the little events and interests of the day. 
 
 " But it was perhaps in the Long Vacation that we had 
 the most frequent opportunities of seeing Miss Clough. 
 There were fewer students to occupy her, and not so many 
 engagements for those who were up, so that it often 
 happened that I spent an hour or two, two or three times 
 a week, in Miss Clough's room, talking or reading, or 
 listening while she read. She was always interested to 
 know what we younger people were reading, and so we 
 would read our Kossetti to her, or Mr. John Morley's 
 Compromise, and then she would read to us Wordsworth's 
 Sonnets or the Evening Voluntaries." 
 
 Another student, who was not quite young when she 
 came to college, said to me, describing the special char- 
 acter of her intercourse with Miss Clough, that it was not 
 that she gave her more affection than she was accustomed to, 
 that what was unusual was her power of appreciating an 
 
224 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 intellectual standpoint not her own, and of creating an 
 atmosphere in which whatever there was in each person 
 could develop freely. 
 
 Miss Clough hardly ever met anyone in the passages 
 or anywhere else without saying a word to them. This 
 habit caused a student of another college to say irrever- 
 ently that if Miss Clough met one of the students going 
 upstairs, she said, " My dear, are you going upstairs ? " and 
 if she met a student going downstairs, she said, " My dear, 
 are you going downstairs ? " No doubt it often seemed a 
 little futile and even tiresome. But it really answered the 
 purpose of making everyone feel how conscious she was of 
 their existence and their doings, and when there were a 
 great number with whom she wished to keep in touch, 
 even these little fragments of intercourse were of use. 
 And the smallest word was always accompanied by a 
 kindly look, which went for a good deal. That the habit 
 had its uses is shown by the recollection of a student who 
 was not living in Miss Clough's Hall, who says, " If ever I 
 met her casually in the college, she always spoke to me, 
 except once, when I think she hadn't anything to say, and 
 she kissed me instead. I remembered it, because I was 
 feeling rather lonely and depressed just then." 
 
 Though Miss Clough was on easy and familiar terms 
 with her students, she had no difficulty after the first year 
 or two in maintaining her authority in the college. One 
 student, an American girl, said that she disobeyed her 
 father and mother on principle, but that, principle or no, 
 she could not disobey Miss Clough. For the most part, no 
 doubt, the students had too much regard for her to be 
 willing to displease her. She very seldom gave commands, 
 and though she often seemed unreasonably anxious, she 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 225 
 
 was not simply arbitrary, and she would hear what they 
 had to say, and sometimes be persuaded. When, however, 
 she had made up her mind that anything was desirable, 
 either for the good of the college or of any individual, she 
 insisted absolutely on its being done. She never com- 
 pletely subdued the fiery temper which she had lamented 
 over as a girl, and which flashed out at one and another 
 now and then. She generally repented very soon, and 
 tried to make amends by little kindnesses and attentions. 
 She would ask the victim to sit by her at dinner, or she 
 would take her for a walk. I do not think she often said 
 anything explicit, partly perhaps from shyness, and partly, 
 I think, from her instinctive dislike of anything emotional. 
 She often seemed to prefer to express her feelings indirectly 
 and by action, and trusted to the delicacy of perception in 
 her friends to interpret her. But in this matter, as in 
 others, her instinct usually guided her truly as to the best 
 way of treating each person. 
 
 She was quite ready to admit that she was not always 
 in the right, and was extremely indignant once when some 
 one said chaffingly to her, " I suppose you never make 
 mistakes, Miss Clough ? " She used to tell her students 
 that they mustn't mind if they made mistakes, and I 
 believe she thought them a sign of healthy activity. One 
 of her mistakes I remember, and its sequel. She was 
 much agitated about a particular student, who she thought 
 was behaving wrongly and foolishly, and one day she 
 openly broke open and read a letter addressed to this 
 girl, who happened to be out when it arrived. The 
 girl, who was very young, as soon as she discovered 
 this, went to Miss Clough, and said, " I ask you, speak- 
 ing as one woman to another, what right you had to 
 15 
 
226 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 open my letter ? " Miss Clough answered, " My dear, I 
 was wrong." 
 
 In speaking of Miss Clough's life and activities in the 
 college, it is necessary to mention her generous use of 
 money. The moderate income which had been hers 
 since her mother's death made it unnecessary for her to 
 receive any salary from the college, and, since her way of 
 life was simple and economical, enabled her not only to 
 give considerable sums to the college itself, but also to 
 help innumerable individuals. Such help was, for the 
 most part, of course, given privately, and therefore the 
 extent of it cannot be known, but she certainly both lent 
 and gave money freely inside as well as outside the college, 
 where she thought such help was really needed. 
 
 Miss Clough's intellectual power was by no means so 
 obvious to those who did not know her intimately as her 
 remarkable kindness and sympathy. It needed time and 
 some attention to her sayings and doings to discover it ; 
 and probably comparatively few, even of those who had 
 opportunities of frequent intercourse with her, realised 
 fully her insight, her delicacy of perception, her width of 
 view and wise sobriety of judgment, or the extraordinary 
 fertility of resource and originality, even audacity, of 
 thought which were combined with these. Several causes 
 contributed to prevent her real power from being easily 
 and quickly recognised. The chief of these was un- 
 doubtedly her deficiency in power of expression, in 
 consequence of which her real self was only made known 
 in her actions, in fragmentary sayings, and in her general 
 attitude of mind. 
 
 Mrs. Francis Darwin, who was a student and after- 
 wards a lecturer at Newnham, says of her : " Her kindness 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 227 
 
 was, I think, the practical but imperfect expression of 
 Miss Clough's genius ; for the fineness of perception, the 
 width and versatility of the sympathies that lay at the 
 back of it were, if not genius itself, akin to genius ; but 
 because she had no corresponding genius in expression, it 
 diffused itself in numerous practical channels and remained 
 unrecognised as a whole." 
 
 It was not so much that she had little command of 
 language, as that she was incapable of methodical arrange- 
 ment of her thoughts. She had no natural instinct for 
 logic, and never felt the need of establishing the connec- 
 tion between one idea and another. She felt that it 
 existed, and was not interested in defining it. And any 
 logical power she had was helpless among the mass of 
 ideas and considerations and points of view that crowded 
 upon her as her mind dwelt upon a subject. Consequently, 
 in exposition or conversation she frequently began at the 
 wrong end ; she followed no order, and left the link 
 between one thing and another to be divined. And since 
 the main points were obvious to her, they were apt to be 
 only slightly indicated, while remote consequences and 
 side issues were dealt with in detail. 
 
 This want of method sometimes made havoc of her 
 business documents, especially in the earlier years at 
 Newnham, and always to some extent unfitted her for work 
 on committees ; and in conversations on business she was 
 at all times liable to give people who did not know her 
 the impression that she was confused, and had no grasp of 
 the question in hand, though in her mind it was perfectly 
 clear, and she could have given a practical demonstration 
 of it if the subject had admitted of one. In general 
 conversations, too, her remarks, which were nearly always 
 
228 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 interesting and entertaining to those who came prepared 
 either by faith or experience, struck some people as inco- 
 herent and irrelevant, and even as futile and unmeaning. 
 Mrs. Darwin says her remarks seemed to go in and out of a 
 subject as she herself would go in and out of a door during 
 or at the end of a conversation, suddenly returning to say 
 something she had forgotten. 
 
 She undoubtedly suffered, and was aware that she 
 suffered, from the want of intellectual discipline in youth. 
 She was impressed with the need of such training, and 
 would recommend the study of logic to her students, on the 
 ground that it would help them to arrange their ideas. 
 She thought also that examinations were valuable because 
 they made people learn to express themselves clearly and 
 concisely, and to concentrate their attention. 
 
 But though these defects prevented her from doing 
 justice to her ideas, and often gave a false impression of 
 her, I am very far from meaning to imply that everything 
 she wrote or said was made ineffective by them. In 
 individual sentences she often expressed her ideas with a 
 simplicity and directness that was adequate and impressive, 
 and by such isolated sayings she did succeed in communi- 
 cating some of her ideas and something of her spirit to 
 many minds. And there was something quaint and homely 
 about the words she used and the simplicity of her phrases, 
 which gave a peculiar flavour to what she said. One of 
 her students wrote of this : " It sounds rather a fantastic 
 comparison, but I often think her sayings were like the 
 works of the early painters, all the more effective because 
 the artist has not yet subdued his medium ; sheer force of 
 character and feeling had risen over the difficulties." 
 
 Miss Clough was not merely without method in ex- 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 229 
 
 pressing herself; she was unmethodical and unsystematic 
 in all her work. It is indeed extraordinary that she was 
 able, without the help of any system or arrangement, to 
 grasp and keep clearly in her mind and manage effectively 
 the very large number of matters with which she was 
 concerned. She seemed to have a natural distaste for 
 generalisation, and was unwilling to lay down rules, and 
 if rules were laid down, she could hardly consent to abide 
 by them, and must decide every case on its own merits. 
 
 This attitude of mind naturally was disadvantageous 
 to her work as director and organiser of a large household, 
 and she was in other ways not wholly fitted to succeed 
 in this capacity. She was apt to be led astray by her 
 tenderness for the individual and her desire to make use 
 of existing means. She could not without a great effort 
 make a clean sweep of people or things really unsuitable 
 for her purposes, but was always contriving to find a use 
 for them, and carried tolerance too far. And this over- 
 tolerance was the more felt in household matters, because 
 she was curiously wanting in artistic sense. She took 
 pleasure in many pretty things, and seldom, if ever, liked 
 ugly ones ; but she had no perception of congruity in 
 outward things, and in such matters would be content 
 with what seemed intolerable to others. Her defects as 
 an organiser were obvious to those who lived with her, 
 and gave many the impression that she had little real grasp 
 or mastery of the matters she had in hand. Mrs. Darwin's 
 account of her first acquaintance with her illustrates this. 
 She says : 
 
 " I saw her for the first time in 1875. She impressed 
 me then as an old lady, over-careful and troubled about 
 many things, and feeling their burden too great. 
 
230 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 " The first Hall at Newnhani was then being built, and 
 we were all in very close quarters in a house and a half in 
 Bateman Street. She was standing in the narrow passage 
 receiving the new students, and at the same time directing 
 the cabmen as they carried the boxes up the narrow stairs. 
 Her white hair, bowed figure, low voice, as well as the 
 attitude, a characteristic one, in which she stood, with one 
 hand at her side, gave me the impression of physical 
 feebleness. Perhaps that first term, if I had been asked, 
 I should have said she was mentally feeble too. I believe 
 at that time she was doing the most enormous amount of 
 work, as, besides all the external work of the quickly 
 growing college, she managed, unaided, all its internal 
 arrangements. 
 
 " My next impression was that she was a kind old lady. 
 I remember that I got this impression very strongly and 
 overwhelmingly one evening during my first term, when 
 she made us a little speech before going away for a few 
 days, asking us to take care of our healths. But I recall 
 to my shame that at first she made no more impression 
 on me than this. ..." 
 
 Mrs. Darwin goes on to say : " It was partly, I think 
 because I was much taken up with myself, though I 
 remember coming up to Cambridge prepared to have a 
 profound enthusiasm for Miss Clough, such as many 
 young people, having heard of her work, felt in those 
 early days ; and I think that perhaps, like me, many of 
 the cruder sort felt their enthusiasm diminish under the 
 first impressions of her personality. For there was about 
 her nothing of the direct, vigorous, and masterful which 
 young people, and, indeed, crude people of any sort, mistake 
 for strength. From the very nature of her mind and 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 231 
 
 character she was wanting in the outward and visible signs 
 that impress ; she seemed to the young (and crude) to be 
 wanting in enthusiasm, decision, and frankness. She never 
 made any flourish of general principles or statement of 
 causes, and her desire not to offend people or to hurt their 
 feelings, when they seemed to us utterly in the wrong and 
 lost in superstition and prejudice, seemed cowardice and 
 unworthy caution." 
 
 Mrs. Darwin speaks of Miss Clough as seeming over- 
 careful and troubled about many things, and this was a 
 very natural view to take, for she was undoubtedly apt to 
 be unreasonably anxious, and may be said to have illus- 
 trated the saying, " Le monde est aux inquiets." She seemed 
 to feel that all her undertakings and all those she was 
 responsible for were surrounded by innumerable possibilities 
 of mischance, and she was determined that nothing should 
 go wrong which care and thought could keep right. She 
 had so little self -consciousness that she was not in the 
 least afraid of being thought fussy, and she often was fussy 
 and quite unnecessarily disturbed. She was always 
 nervous about the health of the students, and took endless 
 pains about anyone who was delicate or unwell. She was 
 generally anxious about arrangements little and great, and 
 never thought the smallest success could be too dearly 
 bought with trouble, and she could not be content with 
 the probability that all had been done that should be done. 
 One student tells how she met Miss Clough starting in the 
 rain to a place some distance off, to make quite sure that 
 a friend had been invited to some college festivity. The 
 girl went on this errand instead of her, but only to discover 
 that it was unnecessary, and that the lady had been invited 
 more than once already. And again, a year or two before 
 
232 Memoir of A nne J, C lough 
 
 her death, when she was easily tired and it was very desir- 
 able that she should save her strength, I remonstrated with 
 her once for walking about the house opening and shutting 
 windows, a task which I thought she might have left to 
 the servants. But she would not be persuaded, and 
 declared that it was a very important matter, and that it 
 required much judgment to know when to let in the air 
 and when to keep out the damp and cold. 
 
 In the early days she was always nervous lest the 
 students should attract attention and criticism by any 
 eccentricity in dress or conduct, for her great desire 
 was to be unnoticed, and to make it clear that this 
 little colony of women was harmless and inoffensive. So 
 zealously did she impress upon the college the necessity 
 for respecting the conventions, that one of the students 
 suggested that Newnham should take as its crest Mrs. 
 Grundy rampant and two Newnham students couchant. 
 
 Much of this care and watchfulness seemed unreason- 
 able and unnecessary to the students, and no doubt Miss 
 Clough pushed it to excess ; but she probably did, by 
 means of it, avoid dangers which could hardly otherwise 
 have been guarded against. In nineteen cases, perhaps, 
 she was troubled for nothing, but in the twentieth she may 
 have averted a disaster. 
 
 And many of those who saw Miss Clough agitated and 
 disturbed, and thought her wanting in philosophic calm, 
 did not realise that behind this there lay a great fund of 
 serenity. One of her students remarked that when the 
 occasion for activity passed, she could subside into such 
 perfect repose of attitude and expression that it was 
 refreshing merely to see her. She had a large view of 
 things which she never lost sight of for long, and her wide 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 233 
 
 range of interests enabled her to turn her mind quickly to 
 matters outside her daily cares. She said to me once, just 
 after she had gone through an agitating interview, that she 
 had all her life been accustomed to read and think about 
 public affairs, and could therefore prevent herself from 
 being too much taken up with her own difficulties. And 
 Mrs. Sidgwick tells me that once, after a long conversation 
 on a difficult and anxious matter, Miss Clough began 
 eagerly to discuss with her possible reforms in the Church 
 of England and the question of land tenure in India. 
 
 One characteristic which was hidden from superficial 
 observers by Miss Clough's somewhat hesitating manner, 
 was her tenacity of purpose and power of sustained effort 
 in the face of discouragement. The indomitable spirit 
 which shows itself repeatedly in her early diaries was at 
 all times apparent to those who worked with her. The 
 presence of difficulties seemed only to rouse her courage 
 and to stimulate her inventiveness to discover some path 
 round the obstacle which should lead her, as nearly as 
 possible, to her original destination. 
 
 Many people, like Mrs. Darwin, saw nothing unusual 
 in her on first acquaintance, but, on the other hand, many 
 were very deeply impressed at once. Much depended, of 
 course, on whether the other person concerned was or was 
 not sympathetic, but much also on accidental circumstances. 
 Those who saw her first anxiously struggling with practical 
 matters were likely to take the view which Mrs. Darwin 
 describes ; but those who saw her with her mind at leisure, 
 or intent on some matter of real interest, frequently carried 
 away an impression of greatness and of a rare and inter- 
 esting character. 
 
 Her appearance varied much, and was sometimes 
 
234 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 very striking and sometimes not so at all. Her hair had 
 become white early, and though this was picturesque and 
 effective, it made her look much older than she was. 
 Her eyes were of an indescribable dark colour and very 
 bright and large, and were the striking feature of her face ; 
 but when she was anxious or occupied with practical 
 matters, she constantly kept them half closed, and her 
 face then looked tired and careworn. She was of a fair 
 height, and though she stooped considerably as she grew 
 older, she never gave the impression of being a short 
 person. She was only seen to advantage in repose, for 
 though she was strong and active in walking, she had 
 no grace or power in movement, and in matters needing 
 bodily skill she seemed to accomplish whatever she did 
 solely by force of will. She had not the imitative instinct, 
 and was not quick at acquiring forms of speech and 
 behaviour, and there was always something homely in her 
 manners, which, especially in the early days, sometimes 
 amounted to clumsiness. 
 
 But she had a natural dignity about her which seemed 
 to be the outward sign of her real greatness of character, 
 and the simplicity and gentle kindliness of her manner 
 were very noticeable, and nearly always attracted people to 
 her. There was wonderful serenity and sweetness in her 
 expression when she was not troubled and anxious, and 
 when she was animated there was fire and power. 
 
 She had a habit when anything stirred her of suddenly 
 lifting her eyelids and opening her eyes to their real size, 
 and the effect of this was often almost startling ; someone 
 spoke of it as like the sudden unveiling of a spirit. And 
 when she was talking to someone in whom she was inter- 
 ested, she would occasionally direct upon them such a full, 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 235 
 
 searching glance that it seemed to them to pierce right 
 into their thoughts. 
 
 If the first point in Miss Clough's character which 
 attracted attention was her kindness, the second was 
 usually the rather indefinable quality called wisdom. It 
 was almost impossible not to feel, in talking to her, that she 
 saw further than others, that her mind had a wider range 
 and embraced an unusual number of considerations and 
 possibilities, and to this there was added a remarkable 
 fertility in suggestions and expedients, and a surprising 
 readiness in making use of the large store of miscellaneous 
 knowledge which she had collected. 
 
 In all matters, small and great, she showed an unusual 
 power of seeing both sides. In dealing with all the rela- 
 tions of life, those between parents and children, employers 
 and employed, old and young, she had always thoughtful 
 sympathy for each point of view. Even in debates, some- 
 one remarked, she usually spoke on both sides. 
 
 This characteristic, as well as her tenderness for the 
 feelings of others, came out clearly in her attitude towards 
 those who did not sympathise with her work and her aims. 
 She thought it quite natural that many people should dis- 
 like and disapprove of a women's college at Cambridge, and 
 she was anxious not to cause them any unnecessary annoy- 
 ance, and to offend their tastes and even their prejudices 
 as little as possible. It was not by disregarding and over- 
 riding opposition, according to her, that changes could best 
 be brought about ; the right course was to work quietly, to 
 avoid as far as possible what would cause irritation, and to 
 consider carefully the feelings of all who could be affected 
 by what was done. It was important, she said, that every- 
 thing should be done in a friendly spirit, and it was worth 
 
236 Memoir of A nne J. Clottgh 
 
 while to be patient and wait long for what was wanted, 
 if by so doing anything of the nature of fighting could 
 be avoided. 
 
 It was in this spirit that she approached the questions 
 concerning the relation of the women's colleges to the 
 University. She felt much gratitude to Cambridge 
 University for the kindness which it had shown to women 
 students and for its readiness to consider their needs. 
 Cambridge was the first of all the Universities to help 
 women. It had opened the Local Examinations to girls 
 and had granted the request for a more advanced examina- 
 tion, and Newnham itself had been created by members of 
 the University, and owed its advantages to their self- 
 sacrificing zeal. 
 
 Miss Clough felt there was much that the University 
 could still do to help women and make their lives more 
 satisfactory ; she had the deepest reverence and admiration 
 for the University, and she desired ardently that women 
 might be allowed to share in the advantages which she 
 valued so highly. But it never occurred to her to talk of 
 " rights," and the abstract ideas involved in the expression 
 did not appeal to her ; she hoped that it would in time be 
 seen that the women students were worthy of further privi- 
 leges, and that they would then be granted to them. This 
 hope was justified when, in 1881, the University admitted 
 women to the Honours Examinations and formally recog- 
 nised the women's colleges. She would undoubtedly have 
 been glad if the University had then or afterwards found 
 it possible to grant the further privilege of admission to 
 degrees ; but she recognised that what was given was of 
 much greater value than what was withheld. What was 
 given gave her very great satisfaction, and she took 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 237 
 
 particular pride and pleasure in the fact that her college 
 was now definitely connected with the University. It 
 became the custom at Newnham to keep the day on which 
 the Graces were passed by the Senate as a college festival, 
 an annual commemoration day, and Miss Clough used the 
 occasion to make the early history of the college known to 
 the students, and to show how much had been done for 
 them, both by individuals and by the University. 
 
 Her attitude in these matters naturally influenced 
 those who came in contact with her, and her point of view 
 came to be generally accepted in the college, and has been 
 handed on from one generation of students to another. 
 
 She was not in the habit of expounding her views at 
 length ; but she often let drop a significant and suggestive 
 remark, which made an impression on those who heard it, 
 and by such casual words, as well as by her actions, she 
 communicated her ideas and feelings to those around 
 her, and made their influence widely felt. Miss Hughes 
 gives an account of a conversation which illustrates this. 
 She says : 
 
 " Some students were once discussing the half-loaf 
 theory of compromise, and Miss Clough joined the party. 
 One of them repudiated with scorn taking the half loaf 
 when she had a right to the whole, and persisted that it 
 was better to starve a little longer till the whole loaf was 
 given. Miss Clough gently pointed out that the student 
 was looking at the question only from her own standpoint, 
 and that she was forgetting her opponents who possessed 
 the loaf. If they saw far enough to be willing to give 
 half a loaf, it was good for them to be allowed to give it, 
 and it was harmful to them to prevent it. Further, if 
 they were encouraged to act up to their present light, this 
 
238 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 would hasten the day when they could see far enough to 
 give the whole loaf. She added quaintly, with a quiet 
 smile, that it was usually far easier to see that one deserves 
 a whole loaf than that it is one's duty to give it away." 
 
 And again, in some reminiscences, published in the 
 Oxford University Extension Gazette, an old student tells of 
 a letter written in the course of a somewhat heated educa- 
 tional controversy : " A student to whose lot it fell to draft 
 the letter exhibited her performance with some pride, 
 feeling confident of the Principal's approval. True, the 
 Principal approved of its purport ; but, with a humorous 
 smile, far more convincing than argument, the expression 
 was revised, its crudeness toned down, angles smoothed off, 
 till at last the letter was despatched quite as decided as 
 before, but free from the slightest tinge of controversial 
 acrimony ; and the student had received an invaluable 
 lesson in polemics." 
 
 Miss Clough's sensitiveness to the feelings of others, 
 and her anxiety to conciliate, produced in her a tendency 
 to be diplomatic, which seemed at first sight curiously at 
 variance with the fundamental simplicity of her character ; 
 and, since she was always making plans about everyone 
 and everything, this diplomacy was frequently called into 
 play, and caused her to be sometimes described as 
 managing. She, no doubt, at times carried it too far, 
 and made mistakes, and her little manoeuvres occasionally 
 annoyed and even shocked some who perceived them ; but, 
 as a rule, her strategy was of the most transparent and 
 innocent kind, and often delightfully amusing. There was 
 never any attempt to deceive in it, nothing of the nature 
 of a trick ; but she tried to present things to people on the 
 side which was likely to appeal to them, and she caught at 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 239 
 
 points of sympathy, and left what was unsympathetic 
 untouched. Once, when someone spoke of the marked 
 disapproval of women's education shown by one of the 
 University dignitaries, she remarked complacently : " Dr. 
 X. and I are very good friends ; I talk to him of the 
 beauties of his college." Thus, though in the sense in 
 which it is generally used the phrase, " all things to all 
 men," would give a wholly wrong impression, her percep- 
 tion of different points of view, and her disinclination to 
 controversy, enabled her to have pleasant and satisfactory 
 relations with people of the most diverse ways of thinking. 
 And yet she was so genuine that in every situation she 
 could not be other than herself ; it might be only one side 
 of herself that she revealed, but it was always a side that 
 really existed. 
 
 She was much afraid of doing harm by saying too 
 much, and had a great power of reticence. She shrank 
 from putting her aims and hopes into words, lest she should 
 needlessly rouse a spirit of opposition and distrust ; she 
 kept her ideas to herself, and adapted and modified them 
 as circumstances changed, and bided her time. 
 
 She usually preferred indirect and circuitous ways of 
 saying and doing things, and this showed itself frequently 
 in her dealings with the students. On one occasion, for 
 instance, when she had some reason for wishing a girl not 
 to go to particular parties, she said nothing to the girl 
 herself, but she asked the hostess not to invite her. In 
 this case she was probably influenced by her feeling that to 
 speak of things is often to give them undue importance. 
 She seemed to feel that every human being is a delicate 
 and complicated piece of machinery, which must be very 
 tenderly handled ; and for this reason she liked to let 
 
240 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 drop an idea in passing, and to convey suggestions by the 
 way, without making it apparent that she was giving 
 advice or expounding a doctrine. Many stories are told of 
 her devices for delicately conveying to the students her 
 dislike of anything in their dress or appearance. If a girl 
 wore shorter dresses than she liked, she would seize the 
 opportunity of her wearing a slightly longer one to say 
 how much she liked it, and why. If a girl wore her hair 
 in a fringe (a fashion Miss Clough abhorred), she would 
 put it aside with her hands and say, " I like to see your 
 forehead." And she would urge an untidy girl to employ 
 a maid, on the ground that it would save her time. 
 
 She was more direct sometimes, but there was usually 
 a persuasive setting to a remonstrance. At a debate, 
 a student, noted for throwing bombs in conversation, 
 advocated knickerbockers for women as a much cleaner 
 and tidier mode of dress. Miss Clough listened with 
 a face of horror. A few days later this reformer 
 came to speak to her, dressed in a long, handsome cloak. 
 Miss Clough took hold of it. " What a nice cloak you've 
 got, my dear ! " and then, in a low, confidential tone, 
 " Much nicer than knickerbockers." Another student tells 
 the following story : " I remember someone had been 
 complaining that Newnham students went along the streets 
 buttoning their gloves. The Principal gave us a sympa- 
 thetic address on the subject. 'I know, my dears, that 
 you have a great deal to do, and have not much time ; but 
 I don't like people to say such things about you, and so, 
 my dears, I hope you'll get some gloves that don't want 
 buttoning.' " 
 
 She used the word " manage " frequently, generally in 
 the sense of contrive, succeed in bringing about, and imply- 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 241 
 
 ing abstention from all violence, and often in the most 
 comical connection. She is said, for instance, to have 
 commonly asked her neighbours at breakfast if they could 
 manage to pass her the bread. And there is a tradition 
 that in the early days, when she had been remonstrating 
 with one or other of the students, or even only discussing 
 plans, she would end ungrammatically, but expressively, 
 with the general appeal for caution and forbearance " If 
 you could manage not." 
 
 This attempt to express many things regardless of 
 grammar appears in another story of early times at 
 Newnham. On one occasion she was sending out invita- 
 tions for a discreet and modest garden party. She wanted 
 a few people to play tennis, but she did not wish to do 
 anything so definite and daring as give a tennis party. 
 The result of these mixed feelings was that she was 
 discovered writing in the corner of the cards to be sent to 
 certain selected people the phrase, " If you could bring a 
 racket." 
 
 The comic element in Miss Clough's sayings and doings, 
 naturally enough, caused much amusement; but it was 
 an amusement that was not incompatible with reverence, 
 and there was a simplicity and purity of intention shining 
 through all she did which made her funny little ways 
 not more amusing than endearing. And her readiness to 
 take advice, and even correction, from the youngest and 
 least important individual sometimes abashed and con- 
 founded young people, who had felt inclined to pride 
 themselves on a superior knowledge of grammar and the 
 ways of the world. 
 
 During the latter part of Miss Clough's life at Newn- 
 ham, she used occasionally to give addresses to the students ; 
 16 
 
242 Memoir of Anne J, C lough 
 
 some were specially intended for those who were leaving 
 college, and some were addressed to the whole body of 
 students, just before the annual Commemoration Dinner. 
 
 The notes of a few of these speeches, and of addresses 
 given at school prize-givings and other such occasions, have 
 been preserved, and are useful in throwing light upon her 
 general aims, and upon her thoughts concerning the uses 
 of education and concerning life in general. 
 
 In the addresses to the students she repeatedly points 
 out that education is of the greatest value as a training 
 and preparation for life. She speaks of " the discipline of 
 study," and says on one occasion : " This was what those 
 who have gone before you most desired, this was what they 
 longed for, what they worked hard to obtain for you. We 
 see the great advantage and the power it gives." And 
 again : " It is thought that this discipline of steady study will 
 brace the minds of young women, and, besides, give them 
 the joy and pleasure of knowledge, of the culture of past 
 ages and the sciences of the present, and so they will be 
 better prepared for their future, whatever it may be. 
 Some may wish for a quiet life, some for a life of study, 
 some for occupation. But to all of us it is most important 
 that we should know how to use our faculties, that we 
 should learn to be exact, to observe, to be able to give out 
 our knowledge accurately, distinctly, and clearly. Then 
 we should often be the better if we could learn to act 
 quickly, and yet not too quickly. Patience comes in most 
 usefully, and we ought to know how to wait. And, above 
 all, to bear defeat, and to be willing to try again and 
 again." And again she says : " Simple knowledge is a very 
 small part of education ; many other things come in . . . 
 the power of using our knowledge for the explanation of 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 243 
 
 things in life." She expresses her belief in the value of 
 examinations. They demand " concentration, presence of 
 mind, energy, and courage these qualities are most im- 
 portant in life, they come into use every day." She adds 
 to these remarks a warning against overwork. " Students 
 must be prudent, they must not overwork or tire their 
 minds, they must keep themselves fresh and bright by 
 giving a certain amount of time to subjects apart from 
 their special work, to exercise, to human interests." 
 
 Though she had had little regular education herself, 
 she had clear views as to the educational value of dif- 
 ferent subjects, and dwelt, in speaking at schools, on the 
 training given by mathematics, and science, and the study 
 of the grammars of different languages, and on the culture 
 to be acquired from tlje study of literatures of various 
 nations, and from history. She spoke once of the pleasure 
 of seeing " the life of a nation rolled out before us like a 
 picture," and at another time she said : " What an immense 
 pleasure it is to realise the life of a nation that has passed 
 away the Greeks and Eomans, their religious life, their 
 national life, their family life ; to taste of their poetry and 
 their philosophy. Even those who do not go in for the 
 study of the classics may through translations gather up some 
 knowledge, some perception and feeling concerning these 
 past times, something that may beautify their own lives." 
 
 She believed that life at college was in itself educa- 
 tionally valuable for women, even apart from the studies. 
 It gave them the opportunity of seeing many different 
 people, of learning to understand different points of view, 
 and the organisation of games and college societies taught 
 them to be business-like, and gave them the power of 
 working with others. She always hoped and believed that 
 
244 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 their college life enabled them " to bring joy and brightness 
 into their families," and to do their home duties better. 
 This idea is constantly repeated in the addresses. She 
 remarks that it is frequently said that " * the higher educa- 
 tion makes people selfish/ and ' that women forget their 
 home duties.' Let us hope that this will not be said of our 
 Newnham students, either now or in the future. We hope 
 that the duties of life are not forgotten, that they become 
 pleasures, that care and thought for others is encouraged 
 here, and that the power of doing things is acquired by 
 the work that is required of the students. . . . We hope 
 that when the time comes, some of you will be heads of 
 families, and that you will apply your power to what you 
 have to do. . . . Make your homes happy ; you have been 
 a long while away, and your coming back will bring a new 
 element, and, let us hope, brighten them. The new friends 
 that are made here, the new interests, the new books that 
 are read, these may all bring something towards the em- 
 bellishment of the home life." And another time, an old 
 student tells me, she said that no doubt most of them would 
 live in obscure corners of the world, but there was no 
 corner that might not be brighter for their having been at 
 Newnham. 
 
 She urged the students to keep up their connection 
 with the college, and dwelt upon the importance of holding 
 together. They would thus, she thought, be able to help 
 one another, and forward many things that were useful, 
 and they would be a source of strength to the college, and 
 would keep it in touch with many points of view. The 
 students whom the college had educated would in the 
 future, she said, be responsible for the right guidance " of 
 this great work which we hope is helping to join men and 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 245 
 
 women together in the training of their minds, in the love 
 and desire for knowledge, and in the pursuit of all that is 
 useful and beneficial to mankind in general." 
 
 In speeches before Commemoration, she was very ear- 
 nest in bringing before the students the disinterested zeal 
 and devotion and generosity of those who had built up the 
 college, and in insisting that the college must always be 
 mindful of its benefactors, not as a duty merely, but for 
 its own sake, that it might not lose a remembrance which 
 should be precious. 
 
 Her mind was often occupied with the possibility of 
 opening out new careers for women, and she hoped that 
 some of the students might be able to take part in the 
 work of scientific investigation, though she realised that 
 this would be possible only for a few. She thought much 
 of what all her students were going to do in the future ; 
 whether they were going to follow old paths or new. She 
 said once : " The world has become very interesting, it has 
 opened out wonderfully. ... I think it is a happy time 
 for women. They may not have the suffrage, but they 
 can work ; they are recognised, they have influence, and I 
 hope new careers will be opened to them. We must plan 
 them, and women must be patient. Our plans may fail, 
 but we must build them up again and gain the victory." 
 But she told them not to be in a hurry to decide every- 
 thing while at college. " It is well not to be too anxious 
 about the future, but allow yourselves to take in what is 
 round you ; the influences, the thoughts, the enjoyments, 
 and to occupy yourselves in reading books outside your 
 work, if this is possible, in order to widen your minds." 
 
 To those who were going to teach she gave the advice 
 she had given to teachers long before, the fruit of her own 
 
246 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 experience. " Endeavour to put your whole heart in your 
 work, to think of the moral tone of your pupils, to make 
 a study of their characters, to try to find out the door into 
 their hearts. If you can only succeed in this, even with a 
 few, the teaching will be better for all. If you feel you 
 have the sympathy of two or three, if you know they will 
 understand you, you will be more able to gain the atten- 
 tion of the class. For one thing, you will have more 
 courage to claim it. Then those who sympathise with you 
 will help the others. There should be composure in our 
 schools and among our teachers and pupils, not hot haste." 
 She says : " There is great enjoyment in work. . . . Work 
 puts us into connection with others, it gives us interest 
 and experience, and scope for our affections," but she hopes 
 they will be moderate in it, and will take a rest and 
 breathing space before they begin. " Take a little amuse- 
 ment in moderation, and read good books, not those alto- 
 gether in connection with your work. Try, too, to get 
 acquainted with people, just a few anyhow, for books do 
 not give us everything." She urges them to " think of 
 the future and begin early to save, because some little 
 sum put by helps towards independence. Teachers cannot 
 go on teaching all their lives. But do not make your- 
 selves slaves to fear of the future. People can live on a 
 very little if they try and plan carefully." 
 
 She wished very much that some of her students 
 should teach in elementary schools. She says : " Would 
 it not give a great opportunity of making acquaintance 
 with the children, or organising for them, of trying so to 
 arrange their lives that the religious element may not 
 be neglected ? I feel personally great interest about this 
 plan, for it was what at one time I earnestly desired to 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 247 
 
 do, and it has been a great disappointment to me that 
 my present work has cut me off from these schools. It 
 would be a great happiness if in some manner the students 
 of the college could more and more connect themselves 
 with such occupations." 
 
 To those who will be living at home she says : " I 
 should say that you should consider, first, how you can 
 make things cheerful and happy at home, and bring bright- 
 ness. Kest in some degree will be pleasant, and you will 
 have time to look round you and take up various occupa- 
 tions, to see people, to enter more into society; but I 
 think many of you will rejoice in the leisure that you 
 will have for general reading, the lives and deeds of great 
 men and women, the secrets of science, poetry, devotional 
 works all these will be a delight to you. Two or three 
 hours a day you can get to yourselves. Or, perhaps, there 
 may come to you the delights of travel, of seeing some of 
 the world, which is most charming, especially when we are 
 young. We may well lay up a treasure-house of precious 
 things and precious memories that shall be our comfort 
 and joy through life. Memories of books, memories of 
 places, they should be our jewels, our garden of delight. 
 We shall gaze on the jewels, on the thoughts we have 
 gathered and stored up from books, and we shall call forth 
 the visions of the scenes we have passed through, and they 
 shall be our gardens." 
 
 She goes on to say : " I have been thinking that by 
 and by some of you might help the serious workers in 
 various ways, even while you live at home," and suggests 
 work in connection with the University Settlement at 
 Southwark. " Moreover, wherever you live there will be 
 work to be done ; but I advise you, at first, to keep some 
 
248 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 time for special home duties, and to get some travelling if 
 it comes in your way." 
 
 She goes on to tell them of an old student who was at 
 work in Jamaica at the head of a school for coloured girls, 
 and of the importance of this work, and suggests that two 
 of them might go and spend a few months near Miss 
 Johnson and " help by your influence in her arduous work. 
 You might see beautiful country, and become acquainted 
 with many quaint people : you might really enjoy it all, 
 and at the same time be of use in helping in the develop- 
 ment of these people, and Miss Johnson's hands would be 
 strengthened by your sympathy and your help. If this 
 can be done in one place, surely help might be given in 
 like manner in other places, and our travels may be made 
 useful to others as well as helpful to ourselves. We may 
 not be able to stay long in these regions, but even a short 
 time may be of use." 
 
 She frequently suggested to her students that they 
 might help to beautify the places where they lived. She 
 thought sufficient attention was not paid to this, and that 
 dull and ugly towns might be made pleasanter and more 
 cheering to those who lived there, by planting trees and 
 by encouraging flower-boxes. 
 
 On another occasion she says : " I would say, if possible, 
 try to get a knowledge of at least one foreign country, 
 of one foreign language, by living among the people and 
 learning something of their thoughts and ways. Books do 
 much, but they cannot give the vivid impression of the 
 sight of things. It would be worth while taking a situa- 
 tion as a governess in a family to gain such knowledge, or 
 to take a post in some institution where help was wanted. 
 Surely this is better than merely travelling and sight- 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 249 
 
 seeing. We then belong to the life, we see people in 
 their ordinary ways, in their undress ; they talk to us in 
 their ordinary manner as they do to their children. We 
 may form friendships, we may give something back from 
 our own country, a little cement perhaps is made between 
 two nations. For ourselves will remain many impressions ; 
 many mental photographs will be taken, and what a 
 pleasure in after times to review them, to take them out 
 again and again and recall them." For those who did 
 not wish to teach, she suggested work in connection with 
 emigration, with the administration of the poor-law, with 
 the Charity Organisation Society, or with co-operative 
 societies. 1 On another occasion she says : " Do not be afraid 
 of humble work, whatever it may be. Take what comes, 
 and put your minds to it. But I do advise you always 
 to try for leisure, and contemplate your work, and avoid 
 slavery." 
 
 She speaks a little regretfully of the bustle of the 
 present day. " There was in past times a period when 
 there was a life of much contemplation, when the monks 
 devoted themselves especially to thought and education, 
 and, we may say, strained and warped their minds and 
 distorted them. But there has been less of that phase of 
 life of late years. Men have turned more to action ; some 
 perhaps have given too small a portion of time to thought 
 and to gentle and secret ways. Perhaps it cannot be 
 helped, for the world has grown so large and so full that 
 
 1 Work of this kind has since been taken up by several former students 
 of the college. One, Miss Sewell, is Warden of the Women's University 
 Settlement, Southwark ; another, Mrs. Bernard Bosanquet, is Secretary to 
 the Shoreditch Centre of the Charity Organisation Society ; and a third, 
 Miss M. Sharpley, has been appointed by the Charity Organisation Society, 
 in conjunction with two other societies, to lecture on work among the poor. 
 
2 50 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 it seems impossible to do without much organisation and 
 public action. The quiet life has gone from us, but if 
 that has passed away, yet there may remain with us some 
 of the grace of that life, the affection and the gentle care." 
 
 She bade her students "be courageous and not 
 frightened overmuch by defeat and by making a mis- 
 take, though it is well to avoid both, but not always 
 possible. How shall we ever succeed if we do not 
 venture ? and we scarcely know till we try what are our 
 capabilities. Some will say it is best to do just what we 
 like, but then we scarcely know what we like till we 
 have tried. Experience must teach us. Unfortunately, 
 too, even when we do like a thing, we may not be able 
 to do it, it may be too high for us. At the same time, 
 we should not be afraid of making a mistake, for how else 
 shall we discover our capabilities ? By effort and insight 
 we may compass many things." 
 
 And again : " We should cultivate a bright and joyous 
 spirit, I may say, a fearless spirit, that determines, as 
 an American writer says, never to complain of anything 
 that can be helped, or that cannot be helped. There is 
 great strength in these words. If we can help a thing, 
 do not let us complain, rather let us gather up our courage 
 and wit to find a way out of our difficulties. There is a 
 great joy in seeking our way, in overcoming our diffi- 
 culties, and 'at last sailing into port, furling our sails 
 and letting down the anchor, while we bask in the sun- 
 shine, remembering the time when the dripping sailor was 
 on the reeling mast.' If the thing is inevitable, then let 
 us bear it uncomplainingly, and not waste our strength 
 in vain repining and complaining. If we watch, we may 
 still find a way of escape." 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 251 
 
 In her last address to the students who were leaving 
 college in the summer of 1891, she said: "The door is 
 open of the pleasant garden of knowledge and of life, 
 where, for some years, I trust, you have gathered instruc- 
 tion and equipped yourselves for what is to come ; and you 
 are passing out with your precious memories of past days 
 and friends, and a bright life. You are going to build up 
 a new life for yourselves in your homes, or in fresh work. 
 Surely you need not fear ; you have gained strength, you 
 have gained power, you will be able to build something 
 pleasant and satisfactory out of your surroundings. . . . 
 I bid you be of good cheer and go forth, for life is greater 
 and wider than college, except, perhaps, for great 
 students. . . . One word more. Take the little pleasures 
 of life, do not always be in a hurry, watch the sunsets and 
 the clouds, and the shadows in the streets, and the misty 
 light over our great cities. These bring joy, as we walk 
 by the way, and thankfulness to our Heavenly Father." 
 
 It is made clear in these addresses that Miss Clough's 
 zeal for education sprang from her belief in its value as a 
 preparation for life. She did, indeed, look upon the 
 acquisition of knowledge as delightful as well as useful, as 
 a source of great enjoyment, and as one of the pleasures 
 which brighten life. She felt genuine reverence for learn- 
 ing, and for the learned men of past times and of her own 
 day, and she fully approved of a life of study for those 
 who were marked out for it by their inclinations and their 
 intellectual capacity. But she was not herself by nature 
 a student, and she was not possessed by the passionate 
 desire for knowledge for its own sake, and it was not her 
 part to forward higher education for women by kindling 
 this enthusiasm. 
 
252 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 But, apart from the services which she rendered by 
 conducting successfully the particular enterprise with 
 which she was concerned, she did contribute something 
 peculiarly her own to the general success, by insisting 
 upon the human and practical character of the movement. 
 University education for women has often been decried as 
 useless, and has been accused of a tendency to make them 
 hard and inhuman, and there was, perhaps, a possibility 
 that it might have this effect. But it may fairly be said 
 that Miss Clough succeeded in averting this danger at 
 Newnham, and there is, I think, reason to believe that 
 the influence of her view of education, as a means of 
 developing the faculties of women, and enabling them to 
 live better and more satisfactory lives, whatever their 
 sphere, was felt beyond the bounds of her own college. 
 Nor can it, I think, be doubted that, by her influence in 
 this direction, and by showing that University education 
 might really be effective to these ends, she helped to 
 win general favour and acceptance for the movement 
 for the higher education of women, and thus contributed 
 materially to its remarkable success. 
 
 It would, of course, be quite possible to emphasise 
 this side of the question too much, and to lose sight of the 
 high ideal of disinterested love of knowledge which is the 
 choicest product of a University atmosphere ; but in this 
 case there were sufficient safeguards against this danger. 
 In the first place, as I have said, though Miss Clough did 
 not herself feel this rare enthusiasm, she respected and 
 encouraged the feeling when she found it in others ; and 
 in the second place, there were many at work with her 
 who were well able to make up for whatever was wanting 
 in this respect. And her view of education is, it must be 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 253 
 
 confessed, the true one for the majority, both of men and 
 women, for the many who, as she said, cannot be great 
 students. 
 
 Miss Clough made the world outside feel that life at a 
 women's college might be softening and humanising in its 
 effect. Her students carried something of her spirit to 
 their homes ; their parents felt that their children were 
 better and happier for being at college, that they came 
 back to them from an atmosphere of kindliness, of human 
 interests and sympathy towards others. Miss Clough's 
 own essentially human attitude of mind, and the wide 
 range of her sympathies, could not fail to leave a mark on 
 her work ; and all who became acquainted with her felt 
 that her influence could never foster what was narrow and 
 hard. 
 
 It has sometimes been thought that those who wished 
 for new opportunities for women in education and in other 
 things, must necessarily regard men as their enemies, and 
 consider any success they may gain as a victory over men. 
 Miss Clough had no feeling of this kind. She was not 
 interested in women alone, nor in them merely because 
 they were women ; and she was incapable, as one of her 
 friends said, of crudely dividing the world into the two 
 camps of men and women. She wished women to show 
 that they were capable of work which had been supposed 
 hitherto to be only possible for men, but she wished it for 
 the sake of the real advantages which might be gained 
 thereby, new opportunities and new privileges, and she 
 never fell into the error of forgetting the end in the 
 means. 
 
 Her sympathies could not be confined to any one class 
 or section of the community. Though a great part of her 
 
254 Memoir of Anne J. Clough 
 
 life was spent in working for the benefit of women, she 
 did not think and care for women only, and if the 
 opportunity of doing good service to women had not 
 presented itself, she would have devoted herself with equal 
 zeal to work of another kind. She never lost her eager 
 desire to give some help to the children of the poorer 
 classes, and as some words in one of her addresses show, 
 she half regretted that she had been diverted from her 
 early plans of work among them. I gathered, indeed, 
 from a remark she once made to me, that after Newnham 
 was fairly established, she occasionally considered the 
 possibility of returning to such work. 
 
 But she did understand and feel strongly for the 
 difficulties of women. She knew that many women had 
 suffered much in the past for the want of opportunities. 
 She spoke often of the women whose minds had been 
 moved by the stirring of thought on religious and social 
 questions in the first half of the century, unmarried 
 sisters, it may be, living together in dull, contracted 
 surroundings, in homes where there was not occupation 
 enough for all. 
 
 These women, she said, " were restless and unhappy, 
 and struggled for they knew not what. Some had none 
 to give them sympathy and help, and had not courage or 
 wit to find out and enter on new paths for themselves. . . .. 
 Many suffered grievously, some fell into ill health, many 
 were soured and spent their lives in foolish and useless 
 complainings." Of those who succeeded in finding some 
 way out, she says : " No doubt many of these restless women 
 were not satisfactory, and especially in those early days. 
 They were obliged to strive so earnestly for freedom that 
 they lost the charm and grace that belongs to the best of 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 255 
 
 women, but surely only for a time, and this only happened 
 to a few." 
 
 She undoubtedly thought of herself as one of those 
 women who had been awakened by the stirring of thought 
 around them, and was conscious of having suffered keenly 
 from the restless desire to be at work and to share in the 
 life of the world, and of having fretted to see her life 
 slipping by with her energies and faculties unused. She 
 must have been thinking of her own experience when she 
 said : " Others, on the contrary, who were dissatisfied, made 
 up their minds that complaining was vain and unprofitable, 
 they decided that the better course was to be silent, 
 watchful, and alert. They would find their way, but they 
 would be careful not to hurt the feelings and prejudices of 
 those who were nearest and dearest to them. They would 
 keep their strength for the critical moment, and then make 
 the change they wanted. They were quite aware that 
 they might make mistakes, but they hoped that if they 
 tried to be thoughtful and considerate towards their friends, 
 they would be saved from remorse in the future, and they 
 would not bring discredit in the eyes of the world on their 
 careers and doings." And, writing in the Universal Review 
 on this same subject, she speaks of those who found helpers 
 in their brothers : " Dr. Arnold's earnestness had moved 
 them in their schoolboy days; they understood and 
 appreciated the difficulties and aspirations of their sisters." 
 
 She by no means wished all women to take up pro- 
 fessions ; but I should say that she thought most women, 
 whether they were living at home with their families, or 
 independently, could find opportunities of active useful- 
 ness. 
 
 It is already sufficiently clear that she attached great 
 
256 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 importance to home life, and she was also decidedly an 
 advocate for marriage. It gave her great pleasure to hear 
 that one of her students was going to be married, and she 
 frequently refused to be discouraged, even when the 
 circumstances seemed inauspicious. A friend tells how 
 she once said to Miss Clough, " rather gloomily," that she 
 had heard bad news of one of the students she was going 
 to be married to an elderly man with several children. 
 Miss Clough replied, " Very good news indeed ; she will 
 make an excellent stepmother." 
 
 Miss Alice Gardner remarks that one of the most 
 striking features of her character was the coincidence 
 of an intense devotion to work with a great belief in 
 happiness. She liked people to have some work to do; 
 but she thought it very important that it should be work 
 in which they could take pleasure. She had no tendency 
 to asceticism, and never encouraged self -mortification or 
 extravagant disregard of natural inclinations. She per- 
 mitted herself to smile discreetly at a philanthropic friend, 
 for whom she had a great respect, but who once said, " I 
 lead a life of self-denial from morning to night," and she 
 would never have recommended any of her students to 
 follow this course. Her feeling on the subject is shown 
 in the following conversation, which is given in Mrs. Ward's 
 account of her. Mrs. Ward says : 
 
 " Not long since, a former student was getting advice 
 from Miss Clough about some future plan of life, and, feel- 
 ing that too much was being expected of her, she broke 
 out petulantly with the assertion that she was 'neither 
 clever nor good, and did not like tiresome people, and 
 could not be always working and taking an interest in 
 social reforms.' Miss Clough very quietly and gently 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 257 
 
 answered her : ' My dear, of course, you cannot ; I never 
 meant that you were not to have your own life and enjoy 
 yourself.' And she added naively, ' I am sure I cannot 
 always be working and struggling myself, and I think 
 some people horrid ! And when I had a school, I some- 
 times used to hate it.' Then she went on to explain how 
 interests might grow little by little, and how, if one did not 
 altogether like this or that person, one might yet find some 
 entertainment in studying them, and how, when things were 
 growing too monotonous, one might contrive a change. . . . 
 She ended by pointing out a number of little things that 
 might be congenial to this particular person in the new life, 
 and which might be aids to content, not omitting the 
 mention of even the wearing of pretty dresses ! " 
 
 She did not like an individual to be sacrificed to a 
 cause, however good. She expected her students to give 
 up something for the sake of the college, the pleasure, 
 for instance, of going about without gloves, but did not 
 wish or expect anyone connected with the college to 
 sacrifice themselves to it, or, as she said, to go on working 
 and receive no reward of any kind. On one occasion, 
 when it seemed doubtful whether the interests of the 
 college were not at variance with the reasonable claims 
 of an individual, I remember hearing her say, more 
 to herself than to me, " It can never be right to be 
 unkind." 
 
 It was an essential part of Miss Clough's nature to 
 look at every subject which presented itself with her own 
 eyes, and she was little influenced in forming a judgment 
 by regard for what was commonly accepted, or by any 
 general principles. This gave her views on all subjects 
 remarkable freshness and closeness to life ; they sprang 
 17 
 
258 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 from the contact of her mind with the facts, and the 
 flavour of reality was strong in them. Many people, and 
 especially those who, like Miss Clough, are charitably 
 minded, though they recognise in the abstract that an 
 ideal state of things is uncommon, prefer to suppose that 
 it exists in every particular instance, unless they know the 
 contrary, but Miss Clough's expectations were always 
 founded on probabilities. She habitually took the weak- 
 ness of human nature into account, and was not easily 
 shocked or startled, and for this reason it was easy to be 
 frank and outspoken with her. No one was ever met 
 with lifeless precepts and depressing counsels of per- 
 fection ; and yet, by expecting only what was possible, 
 and by fairly recognising difficulties and seeking remedies, 
 Miss Clough braced and encouraged many to do their 
 utmost. 
 
 The fact that Miss Clough fixed her attention on 
 things as they are, and her indifference to abstract prin- 
 ciples, led some people to regard common sense as her 
 leading characteristic, and to think her wanting in enthusi- 
 asm for the ideal. But though her ideals were seldom 
 put into words, even in her own mind, she succeeded in 
 making their presence felt by many, and in communicating 
 something of her own zeal in their pursuit. She inspired 
 many with the desire to make the best of their lives, gave 
 them a new sense of their own value, and roused them to 
 feel how much that was worth doing might be done by the 
 humblest, and in the most restricted sphere. Several 
 years after her death, a former student, who was by no 
 means intimate with her, wrote in reference to some work 
 which she was about to undertake : " No one who has 
 been under Miss Clough could fail to put their heart into 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 259 
 
 their work and give of their best." And another student 
 writes : " The way Miss Clough went on quietly working 
 and doing what came next to be done, and at the same 
 time inspiring us with ideas of various careers, without 
 talking cant or making any great professions, gave me a 
 great belief in her, and made me realise how much she 
 really cared for and believed in things. It gave one a 
 notion, too, how really great her philosophy was, and an 
 ideal of trying to live in the same way." 
 
 It often seemed to me that Miss Clough's sincerity 
 of nature acted as a touchstone and test of genuineness. 
 Her simplicity and sincerity seemed to reveal the presence 
 of unreality, and she was, I think, instinctively repelled 
 by it, sometimes almost against her will. And in con- 
 versation with her, those who were sensitive to such 
 impressions not unfrequently felt themselves rebuked by 
 some revelation of this quality in her, and became aware 
 of a failure of simplicity in themselves. An old student 
 gives an instance of this. " I remember," she writes, 
 " when in the debate on ' A man's first duty is towards 
 himself,' the Principal spoke against the motion which 
 I had supported, how she made me feel ashamed of 
 all the smart things I had said, or tried to say, against 
 human nature and the homely virtues. It was like day- 
 light flooding through gaslight." 
 
 She had, at least in later life, a wonderful power of 
 silence and forbearance, and would listen without remark 
 to an immense amount of folly. But her silence, or the 
 unemphasised word or two which she might let drop, were 
 often infinitely more effective than the most lucid explana- 
 tions could have been. 
 
 I have already, in writing of Miss Clough's girlhood, 
 
260 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 spoken of the remarkable extent to which she applied to 
 her own life the knowledge of human beings and their 
 affairs which she gained from books. The events of history, 
 the lives of notable persons, characters, and situations in 
 novels, were almost as real and vivid to her as if they 
 had been part of her own experience, and had hardly less 
 influence upon her actions ; and such matters as the 
 American Civil War or the exploits of Columbus suggested 
 reflections to her by which she might guide her own con- 
 duct and that of others. This linking of small things 
 with great, this perception that little things have their 
 great side, and that humble deeds may be done in the 
 same spirit as famous ones, were, it seems to me, a signi- 
 ficant indication of the light in which she regarded the' 
 everyday life of ordinary individuals. It was never to 
 her an ignoble business ; it was made up of efforts and 
 failures and successes, which, however obscure they might 
 be, and unimportant to the world in general, were essen- 
 tially the same in character as those which shaped the 
 history of nations. 
 
 It was difficult for anyone to be much with her 
 without being conscious of an atmosphere of greatness 
 about her, and this was perhaps partly due to her per- 
 ception of the wider aspect of common things. Other 
 causes, no doubt, contributed to produce this impression, 
 the presence in her of high and far-reaching aims, and 
 of a noble patience and an abiding trust in God, which 
 enabled her to rest content if only she had done what 
 she could. 
 
 It is very difficult to give any account of Miss 
 Clough's religious beliefs ; for though it was clear to all 
 who knew her that religion was a living force in her life, 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 261 
 
 she shrank from speaking on the subject. She constantly 
 showed a disinclination to talk of matters on which she 
 felt deeply, and it was no doubt to this feeling that her 
 reserve as to religious questions was due. 
 
 A former student tells how, at the end of one of her 
 addresses to the students, after she had spoken of her 
 hopes for their future lives, she said, with an effort which 
 made a deep impression on some of her hearers, " This is 
 what I hope and, I may say, I pray God for you." I 
 believe that the best indications of her feelings and ideas 
 as to religion are to be found in the early diaries and 
 lessons to school children already quoted. One passage, 
 for instance, in the diary of 1845 might, I think, have 
 been written at any time. It is that in which she 
 speaks of " bringing our hearts into a constant spirit of 
 earnest longing after what is right," and says : " There is 
 no occasion, then, of kneeling down and repeating forms 
 to make prayers. We live, then, in an aspiration after 
 being transformed into the image of God." And again, 
 a little further on in the same passage, she alludes 
 to her own " constant realisation of God's presence." 
 So, in a paper written in the last ten years of her life, 
 she speaks of religion as " the longing towards what is 
 divine," and as arising from " the contemplation of the 
 divine." It seems to me unlikely that she had any 
 clearly defined set of beliefs. I am sure that she made 
 no pretensions to a logical position. All that can be 
 said with certainty is, that she had a very real and living 
 belief and trust in God. 
 
 She was brought up in the Church of England, and was 
 strongly attached to it, and attended the service on Sun- 
 day with great regularity. She had an affection for the 
 
262 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Church prayers, and remarked once that they came back 
 to one's memory "in lonely places and on the sea." She 
 valued the Church of England for its comprehensiveness, 
 for she considered that it was possible to be within its 
 fold and yet to have some liberty of thought. But she 
 was not only tolerant but sympathetic to other denomina- 
 tions, and she dwelt in this, as in other matters, on 
 points of sympathy, rather than of difference. She was 
 interested in attending the services of different churches, 
 and found something which appealed to her in each point 
 of view. She had a horror of proselytism, and thought it 
 desirable to keep to the form of religion in which one 
 had been brought up, as long as it was possible to do so 
 honestly. I think she felt that those who chose for them- 
 selves, and definitely joined a particular church or sect, 
 were more strictly bound than others that their creed 
 was more closely defined, there was less room for indi- 
 vidual freedom or for development. She had a great 
 dislike of dogmatism and narrowness, and anything 
 approaching to fanaticism in religion, and was inclined to 
 be impatient of anything which seemed to her to be 
 extravagant and contrary to good sense. She always 
 tried to encourage and support religious feeling among 
 her students, though she left them perfectly free, and her 
 influence in this direction was distinctly felt. One of her 
 students wrote : " I never heard her speak at all on that 
 matter, but she always brought a presence that made one 
 think of the largest ideas." 
 
 The outward sign and proof of Miss Clough's wisdom, 
 of the range of her understanding and the truth of her 
 instincts, as well as of the strength and sincerity of her 
 feelings, is to be found in the character and extent of her 
 
Life and Work at Newnham College 263 
 
 influence. It was not only that literally many hundreds 
 felt admiration and warm personal affection for her, and 
 recognised that she had altered and enlarged their views, 
 but that a surprising number of persons were, as long as 
 she lived, consciously and directly influenced and guided 
 by her in many of the actions of their lives. Many 
 looked instinctively to her to advise them, to throw light 
 on difficult questions, and to suggest remedies ; very many 
 valued her opinion, relied upon her intuitions, and keenly 
 desired the sanction of her approval. Some wrote at 
 intervals to consult her as to their work or their affairs, 
 others seized every opportunity which offered itself of 
 talking over all their concerns with her. Former students 
 have repeatedly said to me that they always thought and 
 still think of her when they are about to take any 
 important step. One of them, who had not seen Miss 
 Clough for many years, told me that her advice and 
 opinion on particular questions remained fast in her mind, 
 and still influenced her actions. 
 
 One old student writes : 
 
 " If I had a new scheme in hand, or a new idea to 
 develop, there was no one on whose interest I could count, 
 or on whose advice I could depend, as on hers. There 
 was nothing I could not talk of to her, and no subject 
 that her few words did not make clearer and more inter- 
 esting. She understood without one's having to clothe 
 one's thoughts in words, and explained without making 
 phrases. I know no one else who can do that. ... I 
 think in some ways knowing her has altered me more 
 than anything else in my life. I am often surprised to 
 find that her views on a subject or some words of hers 
 come vividly before me at crises of decision, and I con- 
 
2 6/\. Memoir of A nne J. Ciongh 
 
 stantly ask myself what advice she would give." And 
 Mrs. Ward concludes her sketch of Miss Clough by saying 
 that "involuntarily one imagines her reading what has 
 been written, and finds oneself wondering whether she will 
 approve." 
 
CHAPTEK VIII 
 
 INTEKESTS AND OCCUPATIONS OUTSIDE THE COLLEGE 
 
 Professor Sidgwick writes of Miss Clough : " I came to 
 recognise it as one of her most striking characteristics, that, 
 however abundantly she responded to the demands made 
 on her energies by the continual growth and change of her 
 work in Cambridge, especially by the rapid transitions 
 from house to house, and, later, by the addition of Hall to 
 Hall, she never allowed her mind and heart to be absorbed 
 in the local detail of this work. She was always consider- 
 ing it in its bearing on national education, and planning 
 how its beneficial effects on the country at large might be 
 improved and extended." And Professor Sidgwick adds 
 that " to the end of her life she was never so completely 
 absorbed in her work at Newnham as not to have thought 
 and sympathy to spare for wider schemes of educational 
 and social reform." 
 
 The keen interest which she felt in the whole field of 
 education showed itself in many ways, and caused her 
 influence to be felt in many matters unconnected with her 
 own branch of work. She followed attentively what was 
 done by others, and took every opportunity of learning 
 about educational work, and of coming into communication 
 with those who were engaged in it, She herself took part 
 in various schemes, and gave active help wherever she 
 could, and she was full of ideas and suggestions, and of an 
 
 265 
 
266 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 eager interest which was in itself a source of inspiration 
 to many. She was much interested in seeing schools, and 
 visited many in different parts of the country. One point 
 which she frequently urged upon the mistresses was the 
 desirability of establishing school lending libraries, from 
 which the girls could obtain general literature and acquire 
 a taste for it. She not infrequently presented some small 
 sum with which to start such libraries, and several were 
 established at her suggestion. She was delighted with a 
 plan of systematised holiday reading for schoolgirls, which 
 she heard of from Mr. J. G. Crosswell, Head Master of the 
 Brearley School for Girls in New York, and commended it 
 warmly to the attention of her friends in some of the high 
 schools. Miss Stephen, one of the Vice-Principals of 
 Newnham College, tells me that on one occasion she 
 went in Miss Clough's place to give prizes at a girls' 
 school. Before going, she asked Miss Clough if she had 
 any message to send to the girls. She answered, " Tell 
 them from me how important it is to read books." 
 
 One undertaking which she suggested and helped to 
 set on foot was the University Association of Women 
 Teachers, an organisation intended both to serve as a 
 registry for University-trained teachers, and to watch over 
 the interests of women teachers generally, and do some- 
 thing to improve their position professionally. This 
 Association, which was started in 1882, and was the 
 first of the kind, is still in existence in 1897, and 
 now numbers six hundred members. Miss Clough was 
 President from its foundation until her death, and Miss 
 Constance Elder, who was for many years Honorary 
 Secretary, tells me that Miss Clough presided at nearly 
 all the meetings, and took a great interest in its work, 
 
Interests and Occupations 267 
 
 and that she constantly gave valuable help and advice. 
 She was most anxious that the Association should, among 
 other things, organise a system of classes taught by highly 
 trained teachers, which might meet the views of parents 
 who did not wish to send their children to school, and yet 
 would provide better and more stimulating teaching than 
 could be had from a single teacher at home. An attempt 
 was made to carry out this scheme, but it has not so far 
 had much success. 
 
 In 1877, Miss Clough suggested to the Cambridge 
 Lectures Association that a conference of head mistresses 
 of schools, and others interested in the education of girls, 
 should be invited to meet at Cambridge and discuss the 
 course of study in girls' schools and the working of the Local 
 Examinations, and this suggestion she carried out with the 
 help and approval of the Association. About thirty head 
 mistresses of important schools in different parts of the 
 country, and about the same number of delegates from Local 
 Examination centres, and members of the Cambridge Asso- 
 ciation met at Cambridge, and after an interesting discus- 
 sion on several points, suggested various modifications in 
 the plan of the Local Examinations, some of which were 
 adopted by the Syndicate of the University. 
 
 It was probably in connection with this Conference 
 that Miss Clough wrote a short paper on the training 
 of teachers, a subject in which she had long been 
 interested, and to which she had directed the attention 
 of the North of England Council in 1868. In 1872 
 or 1873, Mrs. William Grey had suggested that a class 
 of student teachers should be attached to every large 
 school, and in 1873 the Head Masters' Conference had 
 expressed approval of training by apprenticeship. Miss 
 
268 Memoir of An ne J. Clo ugh 
 
 Buss, Miss Beale, and the Girls' Public Day School Com- 
 pany were all in favour of some scheme of the kind, and 
 students were received and trained at Miss Buss's school 
 and a few others, but it had not been widely tried. 
 
 The object of Miss Clough's paper was to suggest that 
 steps should be taken to secure the practical adoption of 
 this method of training. She proposed that an association 
 should be formed for the purpose, and that head masters 
 and head mistresses of some large public schools should be 
 urged to receive student teachers, and to make special 
 arrangements for them. They should, she says, first be 
 made acquainted with the system on which the whole 
 school is worked, and be allowed to watch the teaching of 
 others, and after a time they should be employed in teaching, 
 and their lessons criticised. A great part of the necessary 
 practice might, she suggested, be acquired in night schools 
 and in the colleges for working men and women. These 
 institutions would be glad of a regular supply of teachers, 
 and the students would find it easier to teach where their 
 position as students would not be known; and, as the 
 pupils would be less accustomed to discipline, more training 
 would be given in the art of management. 
 
 She expresses her opinion that " two terms of attend- 
 ance at a high school for the study of methods and 
 practice in teaching would, in almost all instances, give 
 sufficient knowledge and facility in the work to enable 
 students to take situations with satisfaction to their 
 employers. Very often, when the student had some 
 aptitude for teaching, one term would give ample time for 
 the study of methods." She speaks of the desirability of 
 an examination in the theory of education, which she thinks 
 might be introduced into one of the groups of the Higher 
 
Interests and Occupations 269 
 
 Local Examination, and remarks that if this were arranged, 
 lectures would no doubt in time be organised, and useful 
 text-books written on the subject. 
 
 She adds : " Doubtless it will be said (and with great 
 truth), that no head master or mistress would have the 
 time to attend to student teachers and the work they 
 would involve, but they might be invited to give the 
 greater part of this work of training to a special teacher, 
 who showed aptitude for it, and who would be paid by the 
 fees, or it might be entrusted annually to one of the school 
 teachers who was duly qualified, thus affording a change 
 of occupation which is in fact a sort of rest." 
 
 She summarises the advantages of the scheme thus : 
 " First, that it will not be expensive ; second, that, very 
 little machinery being required, it could be easily worked ; 
 third, that it need not interfere with the plans of other 
 people, but would perhaps help them by affording some 
 practical experience of modes of training by different 
 educators. Lastly, that many advantages would result 
 from the fact that the training of teachers might thus 
 be placed in the hands of several educators of experience, 
 who, as their work progressed, might be able to suggest 
 improvements and modifications that would tend to the 
 perfecting of the scheme." 
 
 The Keport of the Eoyal Commission on Secondary 
 Education gives some interesting information as to what 
 has been done in the last twenty years with regard to this 
 system of student teachers. It appears that it has been 
 tried in a large number of girls' schools with varying success. 
 Mrs. Kitchener, who, as Assistant Commissioner, visited 
 the girls' schools in certain districts of Lancashire, reports 
 that in these districts, which included Liverpool, Man- 
 
270 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Chester, and other great towns, the schoolmistresses " all 
 without exception spoke highly of the student-teacher 
 system." In many places, however, it has been found 
 unsatisfactory, mainly owing to the difficulty which Miss 
 Clough foresaw, that the head mistresses have not time to 
 attend to the training of apprentices, and because no such 
 remedy as she suggested, namely, that a special teacher 
 should be appointed for the purpose, has been adopted, 
 On this point the Eeport of the Commission says : " This 
 experience points to the employment of a mistress or 
 master of method, as an essential part of the scheme, which, 
 on the whole, cannot be said to have had a fair trial in 
 England yet. ... It remains, for the most part, still as 
 an idea very imperfectly realised, obviously in need of 
 development, and apparently capable of such develop- 
 ment." 
 
 In 1878, Miss Clough tried a little experiment in 
 training on her own account, by arranging that some of 
 the students, who intended to make teaching their pro- 
 fession, should give occasional lessons in one of the Higher 
 Grade Schools at Cambridge, and receive hints from the 
 mistress. The plan was not carried on for very long, possibly 
 because it was found that the students could not spare 
 time for it from their regular work. 
 
 In consequence of a memorial on the subject, and a 
 formal request which had been made by the Head Masters' 
 Conference in 1873, Cambridge University appointed a 
 Teachers' Training Syndicate in 1878. This Syndicate pro- 
 vides for the need of examinations and lectures specially 
 intended for teachers, which Miss Clough had pointed out, 
 both in 1868 and in 1877. It conducts examinations at 
 various centres, in the theory, history, and practice of 
 
Interests and Occupations 2 7 1 
 
 teaching, and it provides lectures at Cambridge on the 
 subject. 
 
 These lectures became the starting-point for the Cam- 
 bridge Training College for Women. The foundation of this 
 College was proposed by Miss Buss in 1885, and it was 
 mainly owing to her zeal, energy, and wisdom that it was 
 successfully established. Miss Clough gave her active 
 support to the scheme, and Miss Hughes, who had just 
 finished her course of study at Newnham, was appointed 
 Principal, and with the help of others at Cambridge and 
 elsewhere, the College was opened in September of that 
 year. An account of this enterprise is given in Miss 
 Eidley's Memoir of Miss Buss, and Miss Hughes con- 
 tributes to it some recollections of her early consultations 
 with Miss Buss and Miss Clough. In the course of them, 
 she says : " One of the most useful parts of my education 
 at Cambridge was the opportunity of talking over this 
 educational experiment with these pioneers. I shall never 
 forget their patience under the difficulties which were 
 always springing up, their foresight to prevent such 
 difficulties, their earnest desire not to make unnecessary 
 enemies, and at the same time their persistent intention 
 to carry out the experiment." 
 
 Miss Hughes says elsewhere, that Miss Clough helped 
 in the same way, with sympathy and wise counsel, in the 
 formation of the Association of Assistant Mistresses, which 
 was started by Miss Hughes and some other Newnham 
 students in 1884. 
 
 Her interest in elementary education showed itself in 
 various ways. She felt great sympathy for elementary 
 teachers, and she thought that many of them received 
 little help and encouragement in their arduous and 
 
272 Memoir of A nne J. Clongh 
 
 exceedingly important work, and were given few oppor- 
 tunities of improving themselves and widening the scope 
 of their ideas. Professor Sidgwick says that she early 
 conceived and long cherished the idea of somehow bring- 
 ing up a selection of the female elementary school 
 teachers to Cambridge, in order to give them some share 
 in University education. " Obstacles," Professor Sidgwick 
 says, "prevented her from carrying out this idea in a 
 manner corresponding to that in which it has been carried 
 out in the Day Training College for male elementary 
 teachers." But on three occasions, in 1887, 1889, and 
 1891, she arranged to receive a small number of 
 elementary school mistresses at Newnham, for part of their 
 summer holiday, thus anticipating, though on a small 
 scale, the summer meetings of Extension students, which 
 began at Oxford and Cambridge in 1888. About twelve 
 schoolmistresses came on each occasion, some for three 
 weeks and some for less. They paid a certain sum 
 to cover the cost of their board, and Miss Alice Gardner 
 and others of the resident lecturers of the College gave 
 them lectures and teaching in a variety of subjects. 
 Miss Gardner also superintended all the arrangements, and 
 took immense pains to make the visit pleasant and satis- 
 factory. The visitors evidently enjoyed both the teaching 
 and the amusements which were provided for them, the 
 little entertainments in the college, the garden, their 
 walks about Cambridge and expeditions on the river, and 
 Miss Clough took great pleasure in thinking that they 
 went away enlivened and refreshed. She herself took 
 a large share in the preliminary arrangements, and Miss 
 Gardner writes that " she was much interested in the work 
 we planned and the walks we arranged for the elementary 
 
Interests and Occupations 273 
 
 teachers, and she made herself personally acquainted with 
 most of them. On each occasion she came to spend an 
 evening with us, and drew from the teachers descriptions 
 of the chief difficulties with which they had to contend. 
 She encouraged a discussion of abuses and remedies, and 
 left them assured of her sympathy and of her influence in 
 the direction of reform. She made a very deep impression 
 on many of them, and when she died they felt they had 
 lost a friend." Her continued interest in some of the in- 
 dividual teachers is shown by a letter from one of them, 
 written two years after her visit to Cambridge, thanking 
 Miss Clough for a letter and photograph, and telling her 
 all the news of her family and her work. 
 
 Miss Clough had a desire that her students should do 
 something for the children in elementary schools in Cam- 
 bridge, and she at one time arranged a weekly class to be 
 held in one of the schools after school hours. The intention 
 was not so much to instruct the children as to amuse 
 them and give them interests, and they were therefore 
 taught fancy-work and games, and stories were read to 
 them. Miss Clough herself attended this class with some 
 of the students nearly every week in term-time for about 
 three years. 
 
 She also suggested to an old student, Miss Hall, whose 
 home was in Cambridge, to start an evening class of the 
 same kind for elder girls. Miss Clough went to this class 
 the first evening and talked to the girls, and Miss Hall 
 tells me that she remembers seeing them gathered round 
 her, absorbed in what she was saying, and that for long 
 after they used to ask when she was coming again. 
 
 She had always a great wish that volunteer help 
 
 should be made use of in elementary schools. In one of 
 18 
 
2 74 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 her early articles, published in Macmillan's Magazine in 
 1868, she entered into this in some detail, and in later 
 life she more than once brought it forward, but could not 
 persuade those connected with elementary education to 
 think it practicable. She thought that there were many 
 volunteer workers who would be willing and competent 
 to give regular help and to work under the direction of a 
 head master or mistress, and that they might give valuable 
 help to the other teachers, and bring a new and refreshing 
 element into the schools. 
 
 In the paper written in 1868 she suggested that the 
 volunteers might visit the parents and induce them to 
 send the children to school and to take an interest in 
 furthering their improvement, and also that they might 
 form classes for those children whose attendance was 
 necessarily irregular and work them up to the required 
 standard. 
 
 She further proposed that they should hold meetings 
 for parents, and explain educational matters to them. 
 " Every means would be taken to kindle in parents a desire 
 for their children's improvement, and suggestions given as 
 to how they could best assist in their education. Emula- 
 tion might be excited by speaking of what is done in other 
 countries, and how much before us they are in these 
 matters." 
 
 Some of these things have since been tried. The 
 managers of Board schools in many districts visit the 
 parents and urge the need of regular attendance at school. 
 There is a society which provides for the teaching of in- 
 valid children who cannot attend school regularly ; and 
 some of the ladies at the Women's Settlement at Southwark 
 make it their business to seek out children whose attend- 
 
Interests and Occupations 275 
 
 ance is irregular, and where possible to remove the cause 
 of irregularity, and in many other ways give volunteer 
 help to the Board schools. 
 
 Though she never received any encouragement from 
 those to whom she made the suggestion, she never 
 ceased to believe that volunteer teachers might be made 
 use of, and even this idea has now been partly realised. 
 In one district of Manchester some of the Board schools 
 allow certain classes of children to attend lectures given 
 during school hours by a lady belonging to the University 
 Settlement there. It is an interesting fact that the 
 lecturer in this case, Miss Stoehr, who is also the Super- 
 intendent of the women's side of the University Settlement, 
 is one of Miss Clough's former students. 
 
 There were many other educational matters in which 
 Miss Clough was concerned, but the examples given show 
 sufficiently the activity of her mind on the subject. I 
 must add that her influence in education cannot be measured 
 by the number or importance of the movements in which 
 she came forward and openly took part, for her influence 
 made itself felt largely through private intercourse, and 
 many of the ideas which she brought out in conversation 
 led to not unimportant results in the work of others. 
 
 The subjects in which Miss Clough was interested were 
 many and various, and the freshness of her interest in each 
 showed an extraordinary vitality and vigour of mind. 
 Whatever related to foreign countries, the more distant 
 the better, had in particular a most powerful attraction 
 for her. The thought of different nations, with different 
 characters, customs, and ideas, gave scope for her imagina- 
 tion and appealed to her love of variety and her appetite 
 for human beings. Her eyes would light up with pleasure 
 
276 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 and eagerness as she heard or talked of them, and her 
 mind dwelt frequently on the future developments to 
 come from the struggles of various races. 
 
 I find among her papers some notes on subjects of 
 this kind, perhaps intended to be read before some 
 college society. I quote from them in order to show 
 the direction her thoughts took. She speaks of " the 
 importance of international intercourse as a help towards 
 civilisation. The first means towards this is that the 
 youth of England should study modern languages, and 
 be able to read with facility works in several languages, 
 and also to speak easily one or two languages besides 
 their own. This would help nations to understand each 
 other, and lead to friendships between natives of other 
 countries. No doubt sciences and the study of them have 
 united members of different nations together. We can 
 know but little of our neighbours, even if we can read 
 their literature. We require close intercourse and an 
 understanding of their laws, their customs, and their ideas 
 of religion. The intercourse of crowned heads and their 
 families may be useful in some ways. Wars are to be 
 avoided. But at the same time we ought to train our 
 youth to be brave and resolute, to be able to bear 
 hardships and privations, to have enterprise, and [a spirit 
 of] adventure." 
 
 She goes on to speak of the condition of Africa and 
 of the work of opening up the country, in which England, 
 Germany, and Italy are all taking part. She writes : 
 " The time, it would seem, for strange adventures and 
 enterprises has not passed away. Those wonderful forests 
 that have been penetrated by Stanley and his followers, 
 and out of which he emerged after months of labour and 
 
Interests and Occupations 277 
 
 toil, still strike us with wonder, and recall to us the deeds 
 of the ancient Greeks, when in their frail boats they 
 explored unknown seas. When we read of these deeds, 
 we feel that there are still openings for the youth of 
 England, that we need not be afraid though our popula- 
 tion grows apace. But we must see that they are fitly 
 educated, not only with book-learning, but with many arts 
 that will be of use in wild lands among unknown rivers 
 and forests. They must learn the use of discipline and 
 order, patience and courage, self-control and the power of 
 endurance. They ought to be so educated as to be 
 missionaries without preaching their faith, but simply by 
 showing it." 
 
 It was one of her pet heresies that it was a good 
 thing even for poor people to have large families, and 
 that it was unnecessary to be alarmed at the rapid growth 
 of population in England, because there were such hordes 
 of black men and other uncivilised races, that it was well 
 to have as many white ones as possible to oppose them 
 and struggle with them for the mastery of the world. 
 
 She was deeply interested in the Colonies, and was 
 eager about Imperial Federation. She thought that 
 it was of the greatest importance to the Colonies that 
 they should continue to be English, and should hold 
 firmly to their share in the great inheritance of English 
 history and English literature, and to the pride which they 
 had a right to feel in the great deeds of Englishmen in 
 past times. She seized every opportunity of acquiring 
 information about colonial ways of life, and gained 
 remarkable insight into them. One student from Australia 
 tells me that in the course of a conversation with Miss 
 Clough about an educational appointment in an Australian 
 
278 Memoir of A nne J, C lough 
 
 town, she (the student) "almost laughed aloud at the 
 shrewd way in which she spoke of the conditions of work 
 in my country, a country where she had never been." 
 
 She thought much about emigration, and was always 
 urging that people should emigrate in communities, taking 
 a number of families from one neighbourhood, and includ- 
 ing all the necessary elements, clergyman and schoolmaster, 
 butcher and baker and candlestick-maker. 
 
 She wished her students to do their part in promoting 
 international intercourse, and laid stress on the value of 
 travel for the individual as well as the community. She 
 had a great desire for closer intercourse with the French, 
 and thought that we in England did not understand them 
 and their point of view, and she wished much to get 
 some French students to come to Newnham in order to 
 contribute to such understanding. This is a characteristic 
 example of the ardent spirit of enterprise which stirred 
 her to take her part, without vanity and without any 
 thought of herself at all, wherever she saw an opportunity 
 in forwarding great ends. It would never have occurred 
 to her that any individual could be too humble to help 
 in the greatest matters, and she was simply too much 
 interested to be able to leave things alone. 
 
 Though she encouraged the students to travel and 
 enjoy themselves, what she really liked best was for them 
 to go and do a piece of work in some other country. In 
 this way they would share in- the life of the people, and 
 acquire insight into it ; and in many places, too, their work 
 was urgently needed. She did not wish them to go for 
 ever, but to take three or four years away and then come 
 home. When a teacher was wanted in one of the 
 Colonies or elsewhere abroad, Miss Clough sought zealously 
 
Interests and Occupations 279 
 
 among her students for a suitable person, but if none of 
 them were available, she was still eager to help in the 
 search. On one occasion the trustees of the Girls' 
 Grammar School at Maryborough, in Queensland, of which 
 a former Newnham student was head mistress, decided to 
 get another teacher from England, and they commissioned 
 one of their number who was then in England to find 
 a lady for them. This gentleman, finding the choice 
 difficult, appealed to Miss Clough for help. She was 
 interested at once. She examined the testimonials of all 
 the candidates ; she corresponded with some of them, and 
 made private inquiries ; and in the end was able to select 
 a lady well qualified for the post. A year or two later 
 the trustees of this school again asked her to find them 
 another assistant mistress, and this time she succeeded in 
 finding one among her own students ; and finally she 
 helped them in the choice of a new head mistress. 
 
 It is partly owing to this activity and to the influence 
 of her ideas that a considerable number of Newnham 
 students have undertaken work in different parts of the 
 world, and that Miss Clough was able to say with pride 
 that she had students in America, Australia, Africa, the 
 West Indies, India, Burmah, and Japan. 
 
 She felt a particular tenderness for her students in 
 distant lands, and I think many of them felt that they 
 had thus a special link with her and a special opportunity 
 of knowing her. Whether they went abroad by her 
 arrangement or not, she was full of interest in their work 
 and their adventures. She remembered and referred to 
 them frequently, and never failed to speak of them at the 
 annual Commemoration dinner. " We remember most 
 affectionately those who have taken courage and are 
 
280 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 working in other lands." " We send our thoughts and 
 our greetings to our dear absent friends." Miss Fawcett, 
 in speaking of her on one of these occasions, said : " We 
 know that Miss Clough's interest in us after we leave 
 college will be in direct ratio to our distance from her ; 
 but we hope she will be able to be interested in us even 
 if we are not farther off than London." 
 
 Though she was eager for them to go, she realised all 
 that was involved in leaving their homes for years, and 
 going far from all their friends ; and she knew the eager- 
 ness of these exiles for news of everything at home, and 
 for some sign that they were not forgotten. She would 
 make every effort to see them before they started; she 
 wrote to encourage them at the last moment, seized every 
 opportunity of sending them messages, and corresponded 
 regularly with some of them. Their letters gave her great 
 pleasure, and every vacation she set to work to answer 
 them at length. 
 
 The student who went to Maryborough at her 
 suggestion has kindly sent me Miss Clough's letters, and 
 told me the little details of her intercourse with her before 
 going, which may serve as an example. 
 
 Miss Newman says : " I spent a night at Clough Hall 
 with her, and remember well her kind thought for my 
 future happiness. She promised introductions to a former 
 student, then in Melbourne, and to a trustee of the school 
 to which I was going. I value most highly a little green 
 volume, The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics, which 
 she gave me at parting, having written my name on the 
 flyleaf, 'With love and good wishes from Anne J. Clough.'" 
 
 Miss Newman writes : " Many letters reached me in 
 Australia, from time to time, saying that her thoughts 
 
Interests and Occupations 281 
 
 were much with her students across the sea. I always 
 marvelled at the kindness dictating these, knowing that 
 when I left home she had no less than five hundred 
 students, past and present, to fill her thoughts. I was 
 especially touched by receiving a letter and a little Kate 
 Grreenaway Almanac, which she sent me by the newly- 
 appointed head mistress, saying, ' I often think of you in 
 your distant home among new scenes.' When I returned 
 to England, after three and a half years' absence, I looked 
 forward much to seeing her again, and giving her a better 
 account of my travels than I could by letter ; but when 
 the steamer touched Teneriffe, within five days of home, I 
 heard the sad news of her death." 
 
 The fact that they were working abroad was only one 
 of many reasons which Miss Clough found for becoming 
 intimate with individual students ; but her long letters to 
 those at a distance bring out particularly clearly the 
 genuine and lively interest which she felt in her students' 
 lives and doings. I give some extracts from them for this 
 reason, and for the sake of the occasional glimpses which 
 they give of her own occupations and enjoyments. 
 
 As a rule, Miss Clough's letters give little impression 
 of her. She wrote to give her friends pleasure, and to 
 assure them of her remembrance ; and she gave her mind 
 chiefly to telling the bits of news most likely to interest 
 her correspondents, and to discussing their affairs. She 
 was particularly skilful in remembering what were each 
 person's tastes, who were their acquaintances, and what 
 students were friends and contemporaries; but, though 
 her comments were often characteristic and significant, 
 these topics naturally made the interest of her letters 
 chiefly personal and passing. 
 
282 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 In 1889 she writes to another student, at work in 
 Australia : " I am so delighted to hear of your appoint- 
 ment to the A School. You must be sure to get it 
 
 in good order, in order to glorify Newnham. It may be 
 difficult at first ; but you have had experience of colonial 
 people, and as you are in command, it will be easier. . . . 
 Don't be discouraged if you find it difficult at first ; but 
 keep up your spirits, and try to make friends with the 
 people, and get at home with them. I wish I could get as 
 far as Australia, to see you; but it is not possible, so 
 I shall look forward to your coming to pay me a visit 
 in five years." 
 
 " January 189 0. If I can help in finding you a good 
 teacher, pray employ me ; but I think it would be better 
 to get them from near, if they are to be found. 
 
 " I am going to look out about books, and will try to 
 send you a list as soon as I can make one out. ... Do 
 you get any novels or poetry ? I suppose you have the 
 magazines in your reading-room. We are very busy settl- 
 ing in our new students. We have six Americans and one 
 Norwegian. I feel especially interested in Norwegians." 
 
 "July 1890. I was very glad to hear from you, and 
 I hope your holiday has done you good. I hope you have 
 seen some of your friends, which is always reviving. . . . 
 I strongly advise you to make the best of your present 
 post. Things will grow easier. ... I should think it 
 would certainly be best to encourage literary tastes, and 
 something of scientific tastes and music and singing. It 
 would be well if a department for dressmaking and cookery 
 could be instituted, but that should be separated from the 
 school, though connected with it. ... I wish often I was 
 younger, and could go to see some of my colonial students. 
 
Interests and Occupations 283 
 
 I think a great deal about them and their various lives. 
 I hope the books were some good. If I could send you 
 anything that would interest you, I should be so glad, and 
 if there is any magazine you would like to have, I would 
 try to send it. Magazines don't cost much. . . . 
 
 " I do hope you have had some holiday, and are enjoy- 
 ing yourself. I suppose you have your long holiday at 
 Xmas, when it is very hot. I have been enjoying a 
 month in the New Forest, with my sister-in-law and 
 nieces. Just now I am in lodgings in the midst of the 
 Forest. We are on a bank which is full of great trees, 
 springing out of a green. Horses, cows, pigs, poultry and 
 geese all wander about in the most amusing way. We 
 take long walks and drives among the forest glades, which 
 are very enchanting." 
 
 One of her students, who had been abroad for some 
 years, wrote one day to Miss Clough that she was think- 
 ing of marrying and settling in India, and asked for her 
 advice on the subject. 
 
 Miss Clough wrote in answer : " Your letter has 
 interested me very much, especially the question of the 
 matrimonial alliance. You ought to have given me a few 
 more particulars. I think highly of the matrimonial 
 estate, the happiness of having someone belonging to you, 
 someone to do and to care for and watch over, in fact, to 
 love and be loved by. Two people together can help each 
 other to seek for the highest. But the question is, do you 
 know each other enough ? When a woman has reached 
 the age of forty, or nearly that, as I suppose you have, she 
 has settled habits, and independent habits. Can you 
 change them, or will you be able to continue a good deal 
 of your independence and your general way of life ? 
 
284 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 " There must be a great field in India for a useful and 
 interesting life. Anyone with intellectual interests might 
 succeed in communicating them, and in helping the young 
 English people who come abroad in doing things for the 
 natives. And if you had true affection, with congenial 
 pursuits, or partly congenial, a beautiful home life might 
 be built up. I should think that High School life might 
 become very tedious and wearisome. Good posts are not 
 very easy to find in England, and the work of a teacher is 
 very fatiguing. But I think you could find posts ; perhaps 
 the most comfortable would be in a family. 
 
 " But I think that you ought to have good knowledge 
 of each other. A woman of forty has power to mould 
 circumstances, she can look difficulties in the face, and 
 plan how to surmount them. An entirely new position 
 has to be made if you marry. Have you goodwill and 
 affection enough, and wisdom and patience enough, to take 
 up the position and build it up with your partner ? If 
 you have, take courage. There should be a great founda- 
 tion of affection, some congeniality of pursuit and under- 
 standing of each other. If these foundations can be laid, 
 I should say, take courage. No doubt, on your way there 
 will come storms and difficulties, but strong, brave hearts 
 and hands will overcome them. But these steps should 
 be taken in the fear and love of God, with a strong 
 resolution to fight through to the end. On these matters 
 people must judge for themselves. Be assured that if you 
 come to England, and want to get work, I will do my best 
 for you, and you have still friends left here. ... I advise 
 you to get to know the character of the gentleman ; and, 
 anyhow, might it not be well to have your own money 
 secured on yourself ? The Women's Property Act does 
 
Interests and Occupations 285 
 
 that for you to a certain extent, but you must arrange 
 it, I should think." 
 
 To the same lady Miss Clough wrote in 1890: "I 
 hope that you are suffering less from the climate. It 
 must be a great satisfaction that the pupils are improving. 
 There seems to be plenty of work for women, if they know 
 how to do it, and are persevering. I wish some of the 
 Englishwomen of leisure would undertake to do work 
 abroad for a couple of years, for really they can hardly be 
 expected to spend their lives in those very desolate places, 
 and they might bear up and be useful for two or three 
 years. I should like to make a circle of teachers moving 
 round. I think that plan might answer. When you come 
 back, we can consult over the plan. 
 
 " I am glad to hear you are writing in the papers. 
 
 It must be a good thing. I suppose the society must be 
 very mixed ; some grains of gold in it, I hope." 
 
 " 1890. I am thinking much of you in those tropical 
 heats which you describe so vividly in your letter of April 
 27. I suppose it is hardly any cooler. Here I am sitting 
 under the shade of the trees of the New Forest, one of the 
 most beautiful parts of England. I wish you could walk 
 with us under the shade of these lovely beech trees, and 
 sit among the green fern, so cool and shady. Happily 
 there are gleams of sunshine to brighten the scene, and 
 when we drive we pass by hay fields, and see the pretty 
 work of tossing and carting going on. The tribes of 
 trippers come by train to amuse themselves in the Forest, 
 among them many children, who are busy with games. I 
 am afraid, after all, you will miss the loveliness of the 
 flowers and the sunshine when you come back to England. 
 You don't remember enough our dull sunless skies and all 
 
286 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 the rain. Still, I feel England enough for me. ... It 
 will be very pleasant to see you and hear of your ex- 
 perience. I think you must have sown good seed in A., 
 and that some of it has sprung up. . . . We can only do 
 our best and be hopeful. It is a blessing to have the 
 opportunity of trying to do what one can. ... I trust you 
 will be hopeful, and feel that your work is worth the 
 effort, and that hitherto it has borne fruit ; and so, wishing 
 you courage and strength, I say farewell, and may God 
 bless you and speed you on your way." 
 
 Miss Clough was not only eager to send her students 
 abroad, she was delighted to have students of different 
 nationalities at Newnham. She enjoyed making their 
 acquaintance herself, and she thought that they brought 
 new ideas to the other students, and helped to form 
 another international link. Mrs. Ward reports that it 
 used to be said among the students that Miss Clough 
 would never be content till she secured, at least, an 
 Eskimo and a Hottentot, and that she would send the one 
 back to her country with a new and excellent plan for 
 keeping out the cold, and the other with a device for 
 improving her countrywomen's personal appearance. A 
 Mahomedan gentleman once came to see her, to inquire 
 about the organisation of the college, and she speculated 
 for some time afterwards on the chance of his sending 
 one or two of his wives to go through a University 
 course 
 
 Though she never had such glorious opportunities as 
 these, there came to Newnham, in the course of time, 
 representatives of a good many different countries. There 
 have been numerous American students, two German 
 ladies, several Norwegians, and a Russian, as well as 
 
Interests and Occupations 287 
 
 English students from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, 
 and the Cape. 
 
 Miss Clough had a special regard for Americans. She 
 could never forget that she had lived in America and 
 found friends there, though she had been almost a child 
 at the time ; and she remembered always that her 
 brother Arthur had been warmly welcomed in America, 
 and that his poetry was perhaps more widely appreciated 
 there than in England. She was never happy if she had 
 not at least one American student, and when one year 
 there were six in the college, it was with difficulty that 
 she resigned herself to their not all being in her own 
 Hall. 
 
 She took endless pains to make her foreign and 
 colonial students feel at home, and was specially anxious 
 to assure herself of their comfort and happiness, since they 
 were at a distance from home, and among strangers, and 
 in this way they, like her students abroad, had special 
 opportunities of becoming acquainted with her. She 
 wrote regularly to some of them after they left college 
 and went home. 
 
 In 1891 she writes to one, whose home was at the 
 Cape, about the University Extension Students at Cam- 
 bridge : " I have been thinking that perhaps some time 
 University Extension might reach to South Africa. Ask 
 your father what he thinks of it. The lecturer might 
 learn something himself. I should think that history and 
 literature would take. A good lecturer might spend a 
 year in South Africa, and go from one colony to another." 
 
 And to an American student she writes : " We have 
 had three Norwegians as students this year, very interest- 
 ing women and now we have as visitor a Norwegian 
 
288 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 lady who has a large school in Christiania. She is very 
 cultivated, and has told us a great deal about Norwegian 
 literature, Ibsen, etc. They seem to be a powerful people, 
 with many thoughts; but they are compressed, and she 
 laments their country being so small. They have but a 
 small circle of readers, and have to be translated to be 
 made known, and she says their writers cannot be properly 
 translated." 
 
 There was one visitor from a distance whose coming 
 made an interesting episode in Miss Clough's life, and who 
 was much with her at Newnham, though never formally a 
 student of the college. About 1882, a Calif ornian lady, 
 not previously known to Miss Clough, wrote to her asking 
 for advice about the education of her daughter, whom she 
 hoped to send to Newnham a few years later. Miss 
 Clough answered the letter, giving what advice she could, 
 and heard no more for three years. Then the lady wrote 
 again to say that it was impossible for her to make satis- 
 factory arrangements about her daughter's education at 
 home, and asked if she might come to Newnham at once, 
 and if she could be taken in there in the vacations. The 
 girl was under the age for entering Newnham, but Miss 
 Clough wrote that she might come, and that she would 
 arrange for her to live and be taught elsewhere till she 
 was ready to enter college. The answer came swiftly that 
 the girl, Alma, would come in two months or less, and that 
 Miss Clough was to look on her as her own, and make 
 what arrangements she thought well for her. Apparently 
 Miss Clough's heart failed her for a moment at the 
 prospect of acquiring an unknown daughter, for she wrote 
 to suggest that the girl should go to a school which was 
 known to her in America. However, Alma arrived, and 
 
Interests and Occupations 289 
 
 was duly adopted. Fortunately, she was charming, made 
 to win Miss Clough's heart graceful, gentle, full of enjoy- 
 ment, incapable of being troublesome. 
 
 Alma stayed in England for three years, two were 
 spent at school, and one only at Newnham. Then she was 
 wanted at home, and had to leave without following any 
 University course of study. During all this time she was 
 much in the position of a daughter to Miss Clough. She 
 spent her holidays at Newnham, or with friends by Miss 
 Clough's arrangement. Miss Clough took her to parties, 
 bought her clothes, settled what she should learn at school, 
 and wrote her letters of good advice. Naturally, some 
 anxiety and some trouble were involved, but they were 
 made as light as possible by the character of her charge, 
 and Miss Clough felt herself amply compensated by her 
 pleasure in her Californian daughter. They wrote to each 
 other at intervals when Alma went home, and Alma has 
 preserved not only Miss Clough's letters to her in America, 
 but also those written to her while at school in England. 
 These are full of care and thought for every detail of her 
 doings. The injunctions about clothes (for which the 
 Californian daughter had a decided taste) are often 
 characteristic and amusing. " Don't get the pink dress, 
 it won't look nice or be useful. ... If you want it very 
 much, I will see about it after Easter, and get it perhaps 
 in London." 
 
 July 1889. She writes to her in California: "I wish 
 I could come to see you, but I am really too old for such a 
 journey. I like to hear of your doings and the people you 
 see, that wild girl, for instance, who shoots and rides. I 
 hope the young boy you spoke of teaching Latin to has 
 got into college. We are here in Wild Wales among the 
 19 
 
2 go Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 mountains, staying with Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, whom you 
 may remember seeing at Newnham. They have five boys, 
 and so the house is very lively. We go drives and walks, and 
 gather flowers. They are very beautiful, I think they can 
 hardly be more beautiful with you. Such lovely asphodels 
 and small St. John's worts, quantities of forget-me-not, 
 delicate little white galium, harebells and campions. It is 
 quite charming to see them growing thick in the bogs, 
 along the walls, and in the ditches. We are not far from 
 Cardigan Bay, which you can find in the map of England 
 and Wales. We are just at the top of the bay, and there 
 are mountains not far from the sea running all along, 
 Snowdon at one end and Cader towards the other, and it is 
 so charming to watch the mountains and the sea. 
 
 * I was in Liverpool and New Brighton for a fortnight 
 visiting schools. I thought of you steaming away on the 
 river. ... I wonder if you could send us some Californian 
 flower seeds or vegetables, but you must tell us how to 
 manage them, and where and when to plant them. I 
 should like to grow the egg-plant, I used to be very fond 
 of it. Some of your friends who are coming to England 
 might post a parcel for us, and we should rejoice in seeing 
 Californian flowers about us. . . . Farewell, my dear child. 
 I do not forget you, and never shall. Perhaps some day 
 you will cross the seas again." 
 
 I have spoken more than once of Miss Clough's 
 suggestiveness and fertility in expedients, and her educa- 
 tional work furnishes examples of this ; but it was shown 
 in every matter, small or great, to which she turned her 
 attention. A few small instances will show the variety of 
 subjects on which she exercised her ingenuity. She pro- 
 posed many years ago that railway banks should be utilised 
 
Interests and Occupations 291 
 
 for growing fruit, so that it might be brought within reach 
 of the poor ; she suggested the publication by the Teachers' 
 Guild of a list of holiday resorts in all parts of the country ; 
 and she proposed that in order to supply the needs of 
 Extension students, surplus books should be bought from 
 circulating libraries, and sent round from centre to centre. 
 
 Miss Gardner writes of her plans for individuals, that 
 " her remarkable fruitfulness in resources put new spirit 
 into people who told any troubles to Miss Clough. Her 
 expedients were not always practicable, but the impulse 
 to try and do something kept one from sitting down to 
 grieve. A friend of mine had a very delicate baby ; she 
 knew of a very weak baby that had been kept in an 
 incubator and grew up all right she would inquire about 
 incubators at once. A poor woman with a family had just 
 lost her husband Miss Clough thought at once of some 
 lady who wanted a woman to keep her lodge. A young 
 teacher had been deceived and cheated by an unscrupulous 
 employer Miss Clough knew a good lawyer who would 
 give his opinion and advice. One often feels now how 
 much one would give for five minutes' talk with her on 
 practical difficulties." 
 
 Though many of her schemes were good and valuable, 
 many were, no doubt, as Miss Gardner remarks, 
 impracticable ; and some dealt with matters of which 
 she could have very little knowledge, and might fairly be 
 called audacious. For though she was cautious in action, 
 her thoughts could not be repressed by respect for what 
 was established, or the fear of being mistaken, and she 
 was so active-minded that she could not let things be, and 
 assume that everything possible had been already done 
 and thought of. When, for instance, she was travelling 
 
292 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 through the country at harvest-time, and saw the corn 
 standing in the fields, she would exclaim against the 
 stupidity of farmers, and say that they ought to co- 
 operate and join their forces to carry the corn, first on 
 one farm and then on another. She could not rest 
 contented in the assumption that the farmers must know 
 their own business best. At the same time she regarded 
 everything from so fresh and individual a point of view, 
 and was so little hampered by preconceptions, that, like 
 the proverbial outsider, she could sometimes make note- 
 worthy comments on a game which she only looked at 
 from afar. And those who knew her well came to feel 
 that her imagination, her intuitions, and her real 
 knowledge of human nature, made it always worth while 
 to examine carefully any suggestion coming from her, 
 however unpromising it might appear. She was not 
 wanting in respect for superior knowledge, and she sub- 
 mitted readily to the correction or condemnation of her 
 ideas, though she had a maternal tenderness for them, 
 and often a doubt whether the well-informed were not 
 sometimes too little disposed to try experiments. She 
 thought, at anyrate, it could do no harm to make a 
 suggestion, and let those concerned " consider whether 
 anything could be done about it." 
 
 She was much impressed by the dull and isolated 
 lives led by many of the country clergy, and she devised 
 original and elaborate schemes for improving matters. 
 She fully believed that her plans might be worked, if only 
 those in authority could be induced to consider them. 
 She wrote as follows concerning some of the clergy " who 
 live in out-of-the-way places, with very little opportunity 
 of change. They have not money enough to get books 
 
Interests and Occupations 293 
 
 and magazines to learn how the thoughts of the world 
 and the course of events are progressing; they see few 
 people. The great danger is, that they will stagnate. 
 That is one of the worst of evils." She suggests that the 
 large dioceses might be divided into districts, and a small 
 committee formed in each, including clergymen and lay- 
 men, " to make plans for the improvement of the district 
 and to help in its development." In forming these 
 districts it should be arranged for town and country to be 
 united in one district " They might help each other." 
 She goes on to make further suggestions. " There ought 
 to be exchanges made. The town clergyman should go 
 into a country parish for a year. The change of air 
 would be good for him and his family, and he would bring 
 some of the life of the town and its activities into the 
 country. The town clergyman might take the holiday 
 children into his country parish, and encourage his richer 
 friends to visit his part of the country. In the winter 
 perhaps some might come to help with Christmas 
 festivities. The country clergyman would be enlivened 
 by the bustle and stir of the town, and would bring some 
 of his quiet thoughts and composure. His family would 
 enjoy the change, and would be stirred up by it. 
 When at the end of a year or two they returned, each 
 side would have gained, and they might continue to keep 
 up some intercourse and to be of use to each other." 
 
 She goes on to remark that the Wesleyan minister 
 who changes his cure every three years, " must get a wide 
 view of the world and of people." 
 
 Amoug the various undertakings, small and great, in 
 which Miss Clough was interested, was the Sunday school 
 for working men, which was started by some Newnham 
 
294 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 students, and which has been already referred to in a 
 passage quoted from Miss Hughes. She was always 
 anxious to hear how it was prospering ; she was frequently 
 consulted by the managers, and when difficulties arose, she 
 sometimes took an active part. On one occasion she read 
 a paper to the men on the bringing up of their children, 
 some parts of which are perhaps worth quoting. She 
 says : " Children, it would seem, ought to draw people out 
 of themselves. The mother, who has the most to do for 
 them, needs the help and support of [her husband, and as 
 they go on in life more care is needed and self-denial 
 on the part of both parents. For the children's sake, the 
 parents must try to be all that is worthy and of good 
 report, that they may learn to honour their parents and 
 seek after what is good. . . . The question I should like 
 to ask you is, How can we help you in bringing up and 
 setting out your children ? You are so busy, many of 
 you, that you have not time to think what is best for 
 them. Could other people help you to plan ? " She 
 speaks of the boys becoming errand - boys " This 
 may be good for their health in some ways, but they 
 ought still to go on with their education, and this 
 parents should consider. . . . The parents must try to 
 keep them up to improving themselves, because their 
 future depends on this. . . . Would Glasses in joinering, 
 in shoemending, in blacksmith's work, help for a few hours 
 a week ? These would be good trades to learn for those 
 who might wish to emigrate. We might add gardening. 
 
 " When the boys grow to be fifteen or sixteen, they 
 ought to be looking forward to improving themselves, and 
 you might be thinking and planning what they shall do. 
 You know better what openings there are in Cambridge for 
 
Interests and Occupations 295 
 
 boys than we do, but I am sure there are people who will 
 help you to think about it and plan, and the more boys 
 learn to use both their heads and hands, the more likely 
 they are to succeed. For many strong and active boys 
 who want to see the world, the army and navy are open- 
 ings ; they need not stay all their lives. If you could think 
 of anything that would help in preparing the boys for their 
 futures, so that they may grow up honest and industrious, 
 and to be an honour to Cambridge and their native land, 
 it would be a great pleasure to the teachers of this 
 school, and those who are interested in it, to try and make 
 your wishes known, and to get advice from some of the 
 wise men in Cambridge. 
 
 " A great scheme has been made by General Booth to 
 try to raise the miserable helpless poor in London out of 
 their degradation. Perhaps some scheme could be made 
 here in Cambridge to prevent the youth of Cambridge 
 from falling into poverty and misery, by opening out the 
 way for them to improve their state and to better them- 
 selves. Industry and honesty and steadiness and accuracy 
 are great qualities. But when others stand round and 
 encourage and help, they give backbone to energy, and 
 strength to the strivers to persevere." 
 
 Another undertaking in which Miss Clough took a 
 deep interest was the Women's University Settlement at 
 Southwark, started by the students of Newnham and 
 Girton Colleges in 1887. The idea was suggested by two 
 papers on " University Settlements," read at a meeting in 
 Cambridge by Mrs. S. A. Barnett and Miss Alice Griiner, 
 a former Newnham student, who was then doing some 
 work of the kind. It was warmly taken up by some of 
 the students at the two colleges, and it was quickly 
 
296 Alemoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 decided to form an association, and to invite other 
 women's colleges to join in founding a Settlement in 
 Southwark. 
 
 Miss Clough was much interested from the first, and 
 hoped that a great deal might come of such a movement, 
 and that settlements might in time be established all over 
 London and in many other places, but she was urgent in 
 advising those concerned to begin modestly and tentatively, 
 and " in a small way." At an early stage of the pro- 
 ceedings, the Newnham promoters of the enterprise held a 
 meeting of the whole college, to get support from the 
 students. For a little while there was some doubt if this 
 support would be given ; everyone was asking questions as 
 to how this and that difficulty would be met. Miss 
 Clough turned the tide of doubt and confusion by getting 
 up and saying gently, but very impressively : " I think we 
 must have a little faith, and a little hope." 
 
 The Settlement in Southwark was founded, and has 
 grown and prospered, under the headship first of Miss 
 Griiner, then of Miss Argles of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 
 and finally of Miss Sewell, another old Newnham student. 
 Miss Clough watched its career with great interest ; she 
 went occasionally to Southwark to see it, and she always 
 attended the meetings held at Newnham in connection 
 with it, and talked over its doings and possibilities with 
 Miss Sewell on her occasional visits. It was the only 
 thing for which she would allow an appeal to be made to 
 the students for money. Hungry philanthropists no doubt 
 regard any community as excellent prey, and Miss Clough 
 was frequently asked if each of the students might not be 
 asked to give sixpence to one good object or another, but 
 she stood like a lion in the way. She knew that each of 
 
Interests and Occupations 297 
 
 the students had probably claims of the same kind at 
 home, and she knew also that many of them had quite 
 enough to do with their sixpences, and she was determined 
 to protect them. But she thought that they might do this 
 one thing as University women, and in recognition of their 
 special position and duties as such. 
 
 Many things combined to make intercourse with Miss 
 Clough a source of pleasure and satisfaction. Her sym- 
 pathy, her varied interests, her suggestiveness, and the 
 wisdom which came out by the way were all important 
 elements in this, but not the least important was the fact 
 that she was always entertaining. This was due in part, 
 no doubt, to her amusing little oddities and idiosyncracies, 
 but still more to her readiness to enjoy, her gaiety and 
 humour, and to a refreshing element of the unexpected 
 about her. 
 
 She advised her students to take the small pleasures 
 of life, and she practised her own precepts. She not 
 only enjoyed beautiful and interesting places, she found 
 something to admire and to take pleasure in every 
 day and at every turn. And her human surround- 
 ings were an inexhaustible source of enjoyment and 
 amusement to her. She liked to see the students playing 
 tennis and dancing, and it was an entertainment to her to 
 watch the doings of one person or another. She was quick 
 to observe little weaknesses and peculiarities, and was 
 always ready to make and to hear little jokes about the 
 characters and manners and customs of different individuals. 
 She often delighted her students by some little phrase, 
 which revealed that she had noticed, and smiled to herself 
 at some little trait which no one knew she was aware of. 
 
 It is almost impossible to find instances of the sayings 
 
298 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 which caused so much amusement at the time which are 
 not too slight or too personal. At one time there were 
 two students in the college, who went to opposite extremes 
 in dress. One wore trailing robes, and the other unusually 
 short dresses. The first intimation that Miss Clough had 
 noticed their peculiarities was her remark oue muddy day 
 to the wearer of robes : " My dear, you should ask Miss S. 
 to lend you one of her short skirts." She was once met 
 on her way to call on a couple who were known to be 
 much engrossed with each other's society, and when asked 
 her destination, she announced complacently that " she was 
 
 going to disturb the T s." No doubt the flavour of 
 
 mockery in her little speeches was particularly appreciated 
 owing to her well-known kindliness of nature, and to 
 the ideas of dignity and discretion naturally associated 
 with her position. 
 
 There was often a quaint contrast between the subjects 
 she talked of and the words she used. Her language was 
 always simple, colloquial, and domestic, and she used it with 
 hardly any modification in discussing subjects usually 
 treated with a formal and academic phraseology. No one 
 but Miss Clough, for instance, would have said, when some 
 of her students failed to reach the heights expected of 
 them in certain examinations, that " Mathematics was a 
 deceiving subject." Her remarks were often amusing too, 
 because they left so much unsaid, and expressed so much 
 by implication, and this, and the unusual turn of the 
 phrases, caused her sayings to be repeated all over the 
 college, and led one student to say that a day was always 
 dull in which one had not exchanged some words with her. 
 I went once with her to stay for a few days with some 
 people whom we had neither of us met before. My first 
 
Interests and Occupations 299 
 
 impressions were decidedly unfavourable, and I was de- 
 pressed at the prospect. When we were left alone in our 
 rooms, I expected some comment from my aunt on our new 
 acquaintances, but she only looked round the room and 
 remarked, " Well, we shall be able to sit a good deal in 
 our bedrooms." I may add that we were both quite mis- 
 taken, and never had the slightest wish to sit in those 
 bedrooms. 
 
 In the course of conversation she would . frequently 
 evolve little schemes of the most unexpected kind. Miss 
 Creak reports, for instance, the following conversation 
 concerning a fellow-student : " My dear, do you remember 
 Miss So and So?" "Yes, Miss Clough." "Well, my 
 dear, the poor little thing has got a lot of tiresome rela- 
 tions, and as soon as she gets a little money they come 
 round her and get it away from her, so I have got her a 
 post in (say) Timbuctoo." " Yes, Miss Clough." " Then, 
 my dear, when she is settled there, you know, she can send 
 for her relations." " Yes, Miss Clough " (more doubtfully). 
 " And then, my dear, when she has got them all over there, 
 she can come back to England and leave them." 
 
 She found many hopelessly tiresome people tolerable, 
 because there was some amusement to be got out of them, 
 and her sense of humour supported her in many annoying 
 situations. I remember travelling by night with her to 
 Holyhead in a carriage with a crying baby. I was 
 much annoyed by the disturbance ; but my aunt had 
 no feeling but interest in the baby, and amusement at 
 my disgust. 
 
 She liked nothing better than a talk with a lively 
 or humorous acquaintance, and would listen with genial 
 appreciation to satirical comments on people and things, 
 
300 Memoir of Anne J . Clough 
 
 though she was not often led into severity herself. She 
 disliked over-seriousness, and sometimes complained that 
 the college debates were too serious. " You were all so 
 solemn," she would say. She liked things touched lightly, 
 and did not wish to talk unnecessarily of very serious 
 matters. She had an instinctive dislike of sentimentality 
 or any unnecessary stirring up of feelings, and this came 
 out in some of her speeches to the students with rather a 
 bad effect on their coherence. She would break off from 
 impressive words about the past and future of the college, 
 or thoughtful advice as to their future lives, to tell some 
 amusing incident, or insist upon some practical detail. 
 " And do remember to send your addresses to our dear 
 secretary, Miss Kennedy." 
 
 Her humour was shown, I think, entirely in connection 
 with character, and she had little appreciation of the more 
 intellectual forms of humour, of humorous fancy, or any- 
 thing of the nature of wit. She had, indeed, I should say, 
 little taste for anything purely intellectual, apart from 
 human life, though she recognised and reckoned with it in 
 others. 
 
 There was a vein of poetry in her which gave a charm 
 to her sayings on the most everyday subjects, and which 
 showed itself in her fondness for metaphors, though her 
 metaphors were frequently marred by her difficulty in 
 expression. Thus she was fond of comparing the college 
 to a little boat tossing on the stormy seas, holding on to its 
 course in spite of perils from rocks and winds and waves ; 
 and she spoke sometimes of the ladies of an older genera- 
 tion as stately flowers adorning beautiful gardens. She 
 was quick to perceive what was heroic or touching in 
 people and their actions, and had a sort of imaginative 
 
Interests and Occupations 301 
 
 grasp of a character or a situation. One instance of this 
 was her admiration of Columbus, and the vision she had of 
 him sailing for weeks and months over the unknown and 
 lonely sea, a type of courage and faith and the spirit of 
 adventure. She delighted in the associations of Cambridge, 
 and liked to picture to herself " the kings and queens and 
 princesses, the founders of the stately colleges which rise 
 up amid green meadows and gardens, guarded by ivy- 
 covered walls and by the slowly-moving stream, and the 
 learned men who have studied there, and advanced know- 
 ledge and true religion." 
 
 One student writes as follows of the pleasure of 
 intercourse with her : " Perhaps it was her individuality, 
 and the sense of an unexplored depth of power and 
 interestingness in her, which was so attractive to me. In 
 spite of her simplicity and sincerity and humility, she 
 always felt to me like an unread book, and this made me 
 want to know more and more of her. ... In comparison 
 with her, other people seemed to be tame and ordinary, 
 however many virtues they possessed. . . . Another point 
 that I cared for was her excessive interest in everything, 
 especially in everything human, and her pleasure in every- 
 thing that was beautiful and interesting round her. Com- 
 bined with this, her critical insight and humour made her 
 company delightful " 
 
 Miss Clough's work at the college and among her 
 students, and her many new interests, did not cause her to 
 lose sight of her family and her old friends, and she never 
 ceased to be full of care and affection for them all. She 
 paid visits frequently both to her brother Charles and his 
 wife, and to Mrs. Arthur Clough, and took a lively interest 
 in all that concerned her numerous nephews and nieces 
 
302 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clough both died before her Mrs. 
 Clough in 1886, and Mr. Clough the following year. She 
 liked to have her family with her at Cambridge, and Mrs. 
 Arthur Clough came often, and spent most of one summer 
 with her children at Merton Hall. Mr. Charles Clough's 
 daughters also stayed with her frequently, and she kept up 
 communication with all his children. Her brother Arthur's 
 eldest daughter Florence was with her for a time as a 
 student of the college; and some years later, in 1884, I 
 also became a student, and then stayed on at Newnham as 
 her secretary. Her nephew Arthur was at Trinity for 
 four years, and it was a great pleasure to her to have this 
 opportunity of seeing a good deal of him. 
 
 As soon as she was settled in Cambridge, she brought 
 her old friend, Miss Crofton, to live near her ; and when 
 she moved into Newnham Hall, Miss Crofton was allowed 
 to have rooms in the building, and lived there till her 
 death the following year. She had many visitors at 
 Cambridge, both old friends and new. Miss Margaret 
 Calder came once at least in every year, and Miss 
 Bonham Carter was often with her ; and she constantly 
 asked new acquaintances whom she made in the vacations 
 to come and stay with her, and see " the beauties of Cam- 
 bridge." She always made opportunities for her visitors 
 to see and make acquaintance with some of the students, to 
 their mutual satisfaction, and remembered skilfully all sorts 
 of little reasons which might mate one person interesting 
 to another. " Miss A. was at school with the daughter of 
 your friend, Mrs. X. ; and Miss B. comes from South 
 Africa, and can tell you all about that book you were 
 reading." She knew that chance visitors were often 
 curious to see what Newnham students were like, and she 
 
Interests and Occupations 303 
 
 thought it good for the students to see pleasant people of 
 various kinds. 
 
 She generally collected a small party of friends round 
 her at Christmas, among them often people who, she 
 thought, needed a little sympathy and change to cheer and 
 rouse them, sometimes foreigners who were likely to have 
 a dull Christmas time, and she succeeded in enjoying 
 herself and being entertained by her guests, as well as in 
 giving them a pleasant time. 
 
 Once she had a visit from an old Ambleside pupil, of 
 whom she had seen little since she gave up the school. 
 Miss N. has sent me an account of this visit, which gave 
 great pleasure both to her and to Miss Clough. 
 
 She writes : " It was to me a most joyful meeting, and 
 though it was seventeen years since we had seen each 
 other, we fell quite naturally into our old positions. I was 
 both touched and amused to see that during my visit she 
 never quite realised that her little old pupil, though still 
 so small, was really grown up. The students were quite 
 young women in her eyes, whilst I, who was so much 
 older, was still a child to be protected and petted and 
 looked after. It was like the Eller How days returned. 
 One of the first things she did was to buy me an illus- 
 trated guide to Cambridge, so that I might read about what 
 I saw, and in this way impress it upon my mind. ... It 
 was the beginning of the vacation when I was there, and 
 only about forty students and a few teachers were still in 
 residence. Some of them were deputed to take me about 
 when Miss Clough was engaged or resting, and exceedingly 
 kind they were to me. I was very much astonished to 
 find that one of these ladies, who I had thought was a 
 student of some twenty years of age, was really a teacher 
 
304 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 of some, to me unknown and unpronounceable, sciences. 
 1 She looks so young to be a teacher/ I said, but my 
 hostess corrected my impression. ' She is not so very 
 young,' she replied ; * but she is doing the work she likes 
 best, and when people can have the occupation that suits 
 and pleases them, it keeps them young and fresh, I think/ " 
 Miss Clough still kept up her connection with Amble- 
 side and her interest in its affairs, and went there from 
 time to time to see her old friends and pupils. She went, 
 too, occasionally to Liverpool. But she was not content 
 with going only to the places and people that she already 
 knew. She particularly enjoyed seeing fresh places and 
 making new acquaintances, and in her vacations she seldom 
 stayed long at any one place. She went abroad a few 
 times to France and Germany and Switzerland, and she 
 travelled much in England, and went several times to 
 Ireland. Irish people had a great attraction for her, and 
 she had friends to visit there, and soon made more. She 
 liked to make elaborate geographical combinations, and to 
 use all the opportunities of any little journey. When she 
 was going to one place, she would think of several others 
 she might look in at on the way, and remember numbers of 
 people who had asked her to come and see them some time. 
 If she went to Ireland, she would throw in Wales and 
 Chester, and probably Rugby, on the way back. When 
 she went to an educational meeting at York, she inserted 
 three visits between that place and Ambleside, and two 
 more on the way back. It seems an exhausting way of 
 taking a holiday, but if it tired her body, it refreshed her 
 mind. Wherever she went she was interested, and she 
 always brought back a gallery of vivid mental pictures. 
 She was an easy visitor to entertain, for she was an inter- 
 
Interests and Occupations 305 
 
 ested spectator of all that was going on, and ready to enter 
 into the affairs of everyone, and was equally pleased with 
 a garden party or a school treat. Wherever she went, she 
 made new and frequently lasting friendships. 
 
 She could hardly travel for a few hours in the train 
 without becoming acquainted with her fellow travellers. A 
 characteristic example of this has been given me by a Greek 
 lady, Mdlle. Kalopotheikes. This lady, when quite young, 
 was travelling alone across England on her way to America, 
 and at Euston she got into a carriage with two ladies. She 
 writes to me : " I had very severe neuralgia, caught while 
 crossing the Channel, and I suppose I looked rather ill, for 
 it was not long before the elder of the two ladies turned 
 to me and asked if I would not lie down. I did so, and 
 when I awoke, much refreshed, I found that her fur cloak 
 was thrown over my rug. Then we had a pleasant talk ; 
 she was full of interest, and wished to know how I came 
 to be travelling alone so far. When she mentioned her 
 connection with Newnham, I was greatly pleased to think 
 that this was Miss Clough, of whom I had heard so much, 
 and my delight was still greater when I found she knew 
 
 D P , and how highly she spoke of her. At 
 
 Liverpool Miss Clough put me into the charge of a porter, 
 who took my luggage to the hotel, and I bade her good- 
 bye, not expecting to see her again. The next morning, 
 as I was writing home an account of my meeting with 
 her, Miss Clough was announced. ... In spite of the 
 distance and the weather, and the early hour of day, she 
 had come into Liverpool to assure herself that all was right 
 with her young fellow traveller." 
 
 She always talked freely of what was interesting her 
 at the moment, and would come back and tell the students 
 
306 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 of all the people and places she had seen, with the most 
 infectious animation. She talked, too, of the books she 
 was reading, of some article in the Spectator, or one of the 
 magazines. She managed to read a good deal at all times, 
 and had no difficulty in turning her mind from her anxieties 
 about the college to the manners and customs of the 
 Japanese, or the latest experiment in philanthropy. She 
 was fond of reading novels, and took a most amusing 
 interest in the lives and fortunes of the characters. She 
 talked about Anna Karenine, as someone remarked, just as 
 if she was a Newnham student, and she discussed what 
 effect higher education would have had on Esther Van- 
 homrigh, and which of her own acquaintances Esther 
 would have been most likely to fall in love with. 
 
 Though she travelled about the country so much, and 
 had so many friends and interests outside Cambridge, it 
 very soon became a real home to her, and she always 
 returned to it with a sense of peace and contentment. 
 She delighted in the place and its associations, and in 
 the sense of living under the shadow of the University 
 which she revered ; and she found great enjoyment in the 
 society of Cambridge, and was interested in all that went 
 on. She gradually acquired a large circle of friends, and 
 among them some with whom she was on terms of very 
 great intimacy and affection, and whose friendship was an 
 immense help and pleasure to her. She found her most 
 intimate friends, perhaps, among those who shared her 
 interests and with whom she worked for many years, but 
 she had many much - valued friends outside this circle. 
 When she first came to Cambridge, she was anxious for 
 her undertakings' sake to lose no opportunity of making 
 friends. She knew that a little feeling of kindliness 
 
Interests and Occupations 307 
 
 towards those engaged in it might be enough to turn 
 critical distaste into good-humoured tolerance, and that 
 tolerance might in time grow into goodwill. But con- 
 siderations of this kind only strengthened her natural 
 social instincts, and it was not by any acts of policy that 
 she earned the affection and respect of a large number of 
 people in Cambridge. 
 
 Though Newnham gave her plenty to do, she could 
 always find time to visit a friend who was ill, or who she 
 thought might be dull or lonely. She remembered every- 
 one, and invented all manner of little kindnesses. She 
 arranged for the children of one of her friends to come 
 and play tennis on the college tennis-courts in vacation 
 time, because they had only a small garden at home, and 
 she knew the boy must want some amusement in his 
 holidays. When another friend was ill and kept in her 
 room for a long time, Miss Clough not only went often to 
 see her, but she took pictures to hang up where she could 
 see them, "just to make a little variety." 
 
 She did not consider that sympathy was only needed 
 for the greater and more obvious ills of life. She was 
 particularly anxious to help people who she thought were 
 dull. I remember that when I travelled with her once 
 in Switzerland, she insisted on buying all sorts of objects 
 in carved wood merely to please the sellers, because " they 
 must be so dull in winter." 
 
 One characteristic of Miss Clough's which often 
 attracted the attention of her Cambridge friends was her 
 faculty for remembering their children's names. It was 
 not that she tried to learn them, but she was so much 
 interested in the children that she could not help remem- 
 bering their names. And she was not merely interested 
 
o 
 
 08 Memoir of Anne J \ C lough 
 
 in the children for their parents' sake, she cared about 
 them for themselves as little individuals. It was only 
 one little sign of her extraordinary capacity for caring 
 about individuals, but it was a very clear and convincing 
 one, and impressed people curiously. 
 
 She seemed to establish a relation with every human 
 being she came across, and it was almost impossible to 
 hand her the salt or to open the door for her without 
 receiving in a word or a look some recognition of your 
 individuality. She always had a human relation with 
 those with whom she did business, both great and small. 
 She disliked leaving one shop for another, because it 
 might hurt the shopkeeper's feelings ; and she was so 
 gentle and considerate to those who served her that in 
 one shop the assistants used to compete for the pleasure 
 of attending to her. 
 
 She took great interest in her servants, and thought 
 much about their lives and characters, and her own 
 servants, and often those of her friends also, were much 
 attached to her. At one friend's house the maid who 
 opened the door fell in love with her, and determined 
 to be her servant some day. She came eventually to be 
 parlour-maid at Newnham and Miss Clough's particular 
 attendant, and stayed with her till her death. As in 
 Ambleside years she used to give part of her evening 
 after school was over to teaching the cook to read, so 
 when she first came to Newnham she used to give lessons 
 in writing to the boy employed in the house. On one 
 occasion she organised a class for children in the college 
 gymnasium, and a number of children came with their 
 nurses in attendance. Miss Clough went to look at them, 
 and, seeing the nurses all sitting in a row, she went and 
 
Interests and Occupations 309 
 
 introduced them to one another, " to make them feel more 
 comfortable." 
 
 The following sentence from a letter written after her 
 death, by a former student of Girton College, indicates the 
 feeling which she aroused in many who had not the oppor- 
 tunity of knowing her intimately : " I was one of the 
 thousand people to whom Miss Clough was kind as she 
 passed, and I am therefore one of the thousand to whom 
 her death is a personal sorrow, and the thought of her an 
 enrichment." 
 
 Another striking testimony to the regard felt for her 
 by her Cambridge friends was given by Professor Liveing 
 in the course of a speech at the opening of the new 
 buildings of the Cambridge Training College in 1895. 
 In speaking of those who had supported this College in 
 its early days, he said, "As for Miss Clough, to know 
 her was to love her." 
 
 The qualities which made Miss Clough so lovable and 
 her company so delightful were so strongly felt in all 
 intercourse with her that there is a danger of dwelling 
 upon them too exclusively, and giving too little prominence 
 to other sides of her character. And yet this intercourse 
 itself gained an additional flavour from the knowledge of 
 the force of character, effective capacity, and far-seeing 
 aims which lay behind her more obvious characteristics, 
 and from the fact that she, who had always time to think 
 and care for an individual, and to be interested in what- 
 ever was interesting, was all the time conducting a great 
 undertaking, and in the course of it dealing with in- 
 numerable problems, recognising and weighing all kinds 
 of considerations, and surmounting one obstacle after 
 another with indomitable resolution. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 LATER HISTORY OF NEWNHAM COLLEGE. LAST YEARS 
 
 The settlement of 1880, by which Newnham was in- 
 corporated as a college, the opening of a second Hall, 
 which at once doubled the number of students, and the 
 recognition accorded to it by the University, gave the 
 whole undertaking a more formal and established character, 
 and led to a more complete organisation of the work. The 
 college is ruled by a Council consisting of not less than 
 twenty members, who, under the arrangement of 1880, 1 
 were elected by the subscribers and honorary members : 
 the last-named being chosen by the subscribers from among 
 the professors and lecturers who admitted women to their 
 lectures. The Council meets ordinarily four times a year, 
 and entrusts the current business to various committees. 
 
 Professor Cayley became the first President of the 
 Council, and Mr. Coutts Trotter the first Vice-President. 
 
 1 The constitution of the college, established by the settlement of 1880, 
 was altered in 1893, in order to give effect to a wish which had been for 
 some time felt by the Council, and in which Miss Clough warmly shared, 
 to give a considerable share in the government of the college to former 
 students. Under the amended constitution a body of Associates was 
 created, whose position in some degree resembles that of honorary Fellows. 
 These Associates are chosen from members of the staff or former students, 
 and have the right of voting for the election of members of the Council. 
 They were, in the first instance, 30 in number, but will eventually be 
 increased to 48. Of the first 30, 20 were elected by the votes of all former 
 students who had resided for a certain period, and 10 by the Council, but 
 later elections are made by the Associates themselves. 
 
 310 
 
Later History of Newnham College 3 1 1 
 
 Mr. Trotter held this office until his death in 1887, when 
 he was succeeded by the Master of Gonville and Caius 
 (Dr, Ferrers). Professor Cayley continued to preside over 
 the Council until 1890, when his health obliged him to 
 resign. He was succeeded by the Master of Christ's 
 (Dr. Peile). 
 
 Newnham is naturally proud of the distinguished men 
 who have given their help and support, and takes par- 
 ticular pleasure in its association with the names of 
 Professor Adams, who was President of the Lectures 
 Association till it was dissolved, and was then for ten 
 years a member of the College Council, and Professor 
 Cayley, the first President of the College. 
 
 There was now a considerable resident staff in the 
 college. In 1880 there were three lecturers and a 
 secretary with Miss Clough in the South Hall. Miss 
 Gladstone was secretary to Mrs. Sidgwick in the North 
 Hall, and Miss Martin (now Mrs. James Ward) was 
 resident lecturer there. The resident lecturers, besides 
 teaching and advising the students in their respective 
 subjects, have always been in the habit of giving any 
 help in the care of the students that was needed by the 
 Principal or Vice-Principal. In 1882 Mrs. Sidgwick 
 resigned the vice-principalship, after having fairly started 
 the new Hall on its course. The students who were under 
 her during her two years' stay in the college showed keen 
 appreciation of their privileges, and look back with peculiar 
 pleasure to their intercourse with Mrs. Sidgwick at that 
 time. Miss Clough, in giving an account of the college at 
 Belfast a few years later, spoke of Mr. and Mrs. Sidgwick's 
 residence at Newnham. " The fact that Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sidgwick's interest in the college was so great as to induce 
 
312 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 them to take such a step, will ever be remembered, by all 
 connected with the college, with lively gratitude, affection, 
 and reverence. The wisdom, grace, and endless sympathy 
 which shone forth in all Mrs. Sidgwick's relations with the 
 students, must ever shed a lustre over the Hall." 
 
 The Vice-Principalship was accepted by Miss Helen 
 Gladstone, who had been for nearly three years a student 
 with Miss Clough, and for two years secretary to Mrs. 
 Sidgwick. 1 
 
 The number of students continued to increase steadily, 
 and the pressure of applications for admission was so great 
 that every few years some new addition was made to the 
 building. A new wing was added to the first Hall in 
 1882, which included a delightful library for the use of 
 the whole college ; two years later a new wing was added 
 to the North Hall. The additional rooms were rapidly 
 filled, and in 1884 there were ninety students in residence. 
 The growth of the study of natural sciences at Cambridge 
 caused the University laboratories for biological work to 
 be much crowded about this time, and it was difficult to 
 provide the increasing number of women students with 
 accommodation there. It became necessary, therefore, to 
 provide a biological laboratory for the women, in addition 
 to the chemical laboratory which they already possessed, 
 and accordingly, in 1884, a building conveniently placed 
 in the centre of Cambridge was bought by the Council of 
 Newnham and fitted up for the purpose. The greater 
 
 1 Miss Gladstone held this post till Christmas 1896, when, to the 
 very great regret of everyone connected with the college, she felt herself 
 called upon to resign it. All who have worked with Miss Gladstone, or seen 
 anything of her work, are aware how much Newnham owes to her character, 
 to her disinterested devotion, and to her administrative powers, and how 
 great the loss is to the college. 
 
Later History of Newnham College 313 
 
 part of the sum needed for this purpose was given by Mrs. 
 Sidgwick and Miss Balfour in memory of their brother, 
 Mr. F. M. Balfour. The laboratory has been called the 
 Balfour Laboratory, and a replica of the bust of Mr. 
 Balfour, which is in the possession of the University, was 
 presented to it by those Newnham students who had had 
 the privilege of attending his lectures. Mr. Balfour gave 
 valuable help to the college in its earlier years, and this 
 lasting memorial of his connection with it is naturally felt 
 to be a great honour. 
 
 In the spring of 1886, the Council decided to build a 
 third Hall to accommodate about fifty students, and to 
 include a large dining-hall. This hall was to serve as a 
 dining-room for the new block of buildings, and also to 
 provide what was urgently needed, now that the number 
 of students was so much increased a room large enough to 
 contain all the students of the college and something 
 more. 
 
 The cost of building and furnishing the new block of 
 buildings, and of laying out additional grounds, was 
 estimated at 20,000, and the Council had again to ask 
 for subscriptions. Many of the friends who had been so 
 generous before came forward again. Mr. Stephen Wink- 
 worth, whose death in 1886 deprived the college of a 
 most kind friend, had promised a donation to defray the 
 extra cost of larger rooms in the new Hall, and Mrs. 
 Winkworth, in order to carry out his wishes, gave 1500, 
 and added a further sum of 500. Over 600 was con- 
 tributed by friends in Cambridge alone, exclusive of 
 2000 given by Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick, and 300 
 was subscribed by former students. Mr. Coutts Trotter, 
 at his death in 1887, left to Newnham a sum of 1600, 
 
3 1 4 Mem oir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 as well as a large part of his library (about 2400 volumes) 
 and his valuable collection of scientific instruments. 
 Eventually, about two-thirds of the money required was 
 raised, and the remainder was borrowed. 1 
 
 Since the Hall in which Miss Clough was living was 
 (at that time) smaller than the new building, and since 
 the fact that the college hall was attached to the latter 
 might seem to give it an additional dignity, the Council 
 asked Miss Clough to move into the new Hall and take 
 charge there. She agreed readily to this proposal, though 
 at first she felt much regret at leaving her room with its 
 west window and the associations which had gathered 
 round the building in its twelve years of existence. The 
 Vice-Principalship of the Hall which Miss Clough was 
 leaving was accepted by Miss Jane Lee, 2 who held it till 
 her death in 1895. 
 
 A question then arose as to the name to be given 
 to the new Hall. The first two had been called the North 
 and South Halls, and it was possible to describe this as 
 West Hall, but this seemed an uninteresting plan to 
 follow, and likely to lead to confusion. It was sug- 
 gested by Mr. Prothero, who was then a member of the 
 Council, that the Halls might, with great advantage, be 
 
 1 The college has now, in 1897, succeeded in paying off a considerable 
 part of this loan, but is not yet free from debt. 
 
 2 Miss Lee entered Newnham as a student in 1882, and was shortly 
 afterwards appointed Lecturer in Mediaeval and Modern Languages. She 
 had studied English and German literature and various mediaeval languages 
 both in Germany and at her home in Dublin for many years, and what she 
 had written on these subjects was highly thought of by those com- 
 petent to form an opinion. Her kindness and sympathy to the students of 
 whom, as Vice- Principal, she had the charge, and the refinement of her 
 character, won the affection and respect of the students, and made her a 
 much valued member of the college staff. Her early death was felt as a 
 great loss both to the college and to a large number of individuals. 
 
Later History of Newnham College 315 
 
 named after some of those who had been most concerned 
 in founding and developing the college. The Council 
 accordingly decided to name the new Hall, Clough Hall, 
 and the second Hall, where Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick 
 had lived for two years, Sidgwick Hall. The first build- 
 ing, the original Newnham Hall, was called the Old Hall. 
 
 The new building was finished in the summer of 1888, 
 and the formal opening in June was made the occasion 
 of a great festival. The University that year granted 
 Honorary Degrees to a very distinguished company, which 
 included, among others, Prince Albert Victor, Lord Salis- 
 bury, Mr. Arthur Balfour, Lord Kandolph Churchill, and 
 Lord Acton ; and the Prince and Princess of Wales came 
 to Cambridge for the occasion. The Newnham function 
 was fixed for the same day as the granting of degrees, and 
 the Prince and Princess of Wales honoured the college 
 with a visit. Many of the newly made LL.D.'s came also 
 in their scarlet gowns, and a large number of visitors 
 from Cambridge and elsewhere. This was an interesting 
 event for a college which was still young, and had not 
 forgotten its humble and tentative beginnings. 
 
 One incident of the day, which gave very great 
 pleasure to Miss Clough, was the presentation to Miss 
 Marion Kennedy of a sum of 2000, which was destined 
 to form a studentship bearing her name. This sum had been 
 subscribed by the many old students and friends of Miss 
 Kennedy and of the college who knew of her many years' 
 devoted work for Newnham and its students. The 
 studentship is awarded every year to a student of the 
 college who has completed her course there, and can give 
 evidence that she is qualified to do " advanced independent 
 work " in some department of learning. The first student 
 
316 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 who held it was Miss Mary Bateson, the daughter of the 
 early friends of the college, Dr. and Mrs. Bateson, and 
 the second Marion Kennedy student was Miss Philippa 
 Fawcett. 
 
 An invitation to this function was sent to all old 
 students of the college, and a large number availed them- 
 selves of it. The new dining-hall was made use of without 
 delay; nearly three hundred students, past and present, 
 dined together there in the evening, while Professor and 
 Mrs. Adams and Professor and Mrs. Cayley looked down 
 upon the proceedings from the gallery. 
 
 It was characteristic of Newnham and of Miss Clough, 
 that the large number of old students who came to 
 luncheon before the proceedings of the day began, were all 
 placed in groups carefully arranged beforehand, so that 
 each might find herself among friends and contemporaries. 
 It may be imagined that this plan involved much time and 
 trouble, and much consideration and searching into records. 
 
 The Hall has proved an immense acquisition to the 
 college. It was designed, like the rest of the buildings, by 
 Mr. Champneys, and is a delightful room both to see and to 
 use. The new block of buildings was connected with 
 Sidgwick Hall by a passage, which was found to be a great 
 advantage. The Old Hall was still separated from the 
 others, and Miss Clough looked forward to the day when that 
 too might be joined to Sidgwick Hall, and the whole college 
 brought under one roof, but this was not accomplished till 
 after her death. Miss Clough migrated to Clough Hall 
 during the summer of 1888, and in spite of her tender- 
 ness for the Old Hall, soon came to have great pleasure 
 and comfort in her new rooms and new Hall. 
 
 The educational work of the college went on steadily. 
 
Later History of Newnham College 317 
 
 The increase of numbers, the experience gained, and the 
 fact that the work of the majority of the students was 
 now less miscellaneous, and followed more regular and 
 recognised lines, made it possible to organise the teaching 
 more satisfactorily. It was easier now for those who 
 wanted to come to Cambridge to obtain some preliminary 
 training, and it was better understood what were the 
 special advantages to be found at Cambridge. Con- 
 sequently, the students came up better prepared, and with 
 clearer ideas of what they wanted to do. Cambridge was 
 no longer the only place where women could get teaching, 
 and as their other opportunities increased in number, it 
 became less necessary to make great efforts to receive 
 everyone who wished to come. After 1878, Newnham 
 found it possible to require applicants for admission to 
 pass certain examinations, or to give other proofs of their 
 intellectual qualifications, and it was no longer willing to 
 receive students for periods of less than a year. 
 
 The proportion of students who studied with a view 
 to the Tripos Examinations steadily increased. Out of 
 215 women who attended the lectures between 1870 
 and 1880, only 20 entered for these examinations. 
 Of the number of students in residence at Newnham in 
 1881, half eventually entered for Triposes, and in 1885 
 the proportion had risen to four-fifths. Most of the 
 remainder still worked for the Higher Local Examinations, 
 but there were, and there still are, usually a few students 
 who are working for no examination. It gradually came 
 to be the practice to allow students who are not working 
 for a Tripos to stay at college for two years only, 
 and during this time they are not required to take any 
 examination. They are allowed, however, to stay on 
 
3 1 8 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 for a third and even a fourth year, if it is clear that 
 their work is not less advanced than that which would be 
 required of students of the same standing working for a 
 Tripos. The college has always shown some tenderness 
 towards students, such as these last, who are not doing 
 elementary work, but wish to work on their own lines. 
 The fact that, when once admission to the college has been 
 granted, no other examination is insisted upon, has been an 
 advantage in particular to many foreign students, and also 
 to others who wished to do advanced work, and whose 
 requirements would not have been met by the University 
 courses. 
 
 In these later years, when the period of transition and 
 experiment was over, the work of Newnham became much 
 more like that of Girton. There were and are still some 
 differences in the plans followed by the two colleges, but 
 there are far more points of resemblance, and for a long 
 time now they have worked side by side as allies in one 
 undertaking, and each has contributed by its successes to 
 the prosperity of the other. 
 
 The results of the students' work during the period 
 of which I am speaking, as tested by the Tripos Examina- 
 tions, must be considered very satisfactory. In the ten years 
 following the formal opening of the examinations, Newnham 
 presented 251 students for various Triposes; of these, 51 
 obtained first classes, 119 second classes, 78 third classes, 
 2 obtained the standard* of the Ordinary Degree, 2 were 
 allowed an iEgrotat, and 5 failed altogether. This amount 
 of success showed, at anyrate, that the women students 
 were capable of profiting by the teaching offered to them. 
 
 In June 1887 a student of Girton College, Miss 
 Agnata Ramsay (now Mrs. Montagu Butler), was placed 
 
Later History of Newnham College 319 
 
 in the first division of the first class in the Classical 
 Tripos Examination. No other candidates, men or women, 
 attained this standard in that year, and Miss Eamsay was 
 thus at the head of the Tripos. This success attracted 
 considerable notice, and it seemed to those connected with 
 Girton, and to many others interested in women's educa- 
 tion, that the moment was a favourable one for petitioning 
 the University to admit women to degrees. Accordingly, 
 seven memorials expressing this desire were signed and 
 presented early in the autumn. 
 
 The chances of a favourable answer to this appeal 
 were much diminished by the fact that' there were 
 many members of the University who, though they were 
 in favour of giving women a large share in the benefits of 
 University education, and had supported the Graces passed 
 in 1881, were opposed to their admission to degrees. 
 Prominent among these was Mr. G. F. Browne (now Bishop 
 of Stepney), who had been, and as long as he remained at 
 Cambridge continued to be, a staunch supporter of the 
 movement for the higher education for women, and as a 
 leading academic Conservative had given aid of special 
 value in 1881. Mr. Browne held that it would be detri- 
 mental to the interests of women to tie their education 
 permanently to that of men, and that a separate University 
 for women should be constituted. This view was set forth 
 in memorials signed by a large number of members of the 
 Senate. There were others, also, of whom Professor Sidg- 
 wick was one, who, while anxious that women should be 
 admitted to degrees, were also anxious that the alternative 
 preliminary examinations sanctioned by the Graces of 1881 
 should still be open to women, and that the Previous 
 Examination, and consequently Latin and Greek, should 
 
3 2 o Mem oir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 not be made compulsory for all candidates for the Tripos 
 Examinations. Miss Clough shared this view, and signed 
 one of two memorials in which it was expressed, but it 
 was not acceptable to the other memorialists, who ex- 
 pressly desired that degrees should be granted to women 
 on exactly the same terms as to men. 
 
 Other memorials, begging that no steps should be taken 
 in the matter, were signed by 1041 members of the Senate, 
 and the Council of the Senate decided that it was not 
 desirable to make any proposal. 
 
 Through the whole of this period the women students 
 continued to receive, and have ever since received, the 
 greatest kindness and courtesy from the University. Both 
 University officials and individual professors and lecturers 
 were most kind in giving them the help and opportunities 
 which they needed, and in giving advice and practical 
 services to the college. After 1881 Newnham was no 
 longer, as it were, the pet scheme of a band of members of 
 the University, but acquired an established position of its 
 own. There was some loss in this, though it was the 
 result of success. But it has never ceased to receive 
 what is indeed essential to its welfare, most generous and 
 valuable help from many Cambridge men. It was not 
 only in the early years that help was given in the form 
 of gratuitous teaching. Among those who continued to 
 help the college in this way for a great number of years, 
 and in some cases up to the present time, I must mention 
 Dr. Michael Foster, Mr. Archer-Hind, and Mr. Adam Sedg- 
 wick. It must also be remembered that it is not a slight 
 sacrifice on the part of men whose time is already filled 
 with University and college work to consent to join the 
 Newnham Council and to sit upon its committees. I have 
 
Later History of Newnham College 321 
 
 mentioned a few of those who made such sacrifices, but 
 there were very many others, so many that it is not 
 possible for me to name them here, but their names are 
 fortunately preserved in the college records. One friend 
 I must particularly mention, Professor Hudson, who, 
 though he left Cambridge for King's College, London, many 
 years ago, has not only been a member of the Newnham 
 Council since 1880, but has for the last twenty -two 
 years undertaken annually the laborious task of auditing 
 the college accounts. 
 
 The attitude towards Newnham, both of Cambridge 
 and of the world outside Cambridge, had already in 1880 
 changed since the earlier years, and during the next ten 
 years it altered still further in the same direction. Newn- 
 ham was no longer a struggling experiment, but an estab- 
 lished fact, and had a recognised position. This change 
 of attitude was no doubt partly due to the altered view 
 taken of women's education throughout the country. 
 
 The idea that some provision ought to be made for 
 
 their education seems to have spread rapidly after 1870, 
 
 and after 1880 it had apparently found general acceptance. 
 
 Schools and colleges for girls sprang up all over the 
 
 country, and one University after another recognised their 
 
 claims. The University of London extended its privileges 
 
 to women in 1878. Oxford opened certain of its Honours 
 
 Examinations to women in 1884, and gradually admitted 
 
 them to one after the other. The Koyal Irish University, 
 
 founded in 1879, the new Welsh Universities, the Victoria 
 
 University, and the various University Colleges admitted 
 
 women on equal terms with men. The Eoyal Commission 
 
 appointed under the Scotch Universities Act of 1889, issued 
 
 an ordinance in 1892 empowering the Scotch Universities 
 21 
 
322 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 to admit women to their degrees and to provide teaching 
 for them, and this has been done in different measure and 
 different forms by Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and St. 
 Andrews. Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall 
 were opened in Oxford in 1879, St. Hugh's in 1886, 
 Westfield at Hampstead in 1882, Holloway in 1887, and 
 between 1885 and 1892 halls of residence for women 
 were opened at Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwith. 
 
 The action of Cambridge had, no doubt, done much to 
 stimulate this activity. Cambridge had given women an 
 opportunity, of which they had freely availed themselves, 
 of showing that a great number of them were anxious 
 for University education, and capable of receiving it. 
 The widespread interest in women's education, of which 
 this rapid progress gave evidence, gave new dignity to 
 the position of the Cambridge women's colleges. They 
 were no longer the practical expression of a fad, they 
 were the pioneers in an important and successful move- 
 ment, and were now its leading representatives. Those 
 who had similar undertakings in view, or who, without 
 having definite plans, desired to introduce improvements 
 into women's education, looked to the experience of 
 Girton and Newnham for guidance, and educational 
 reformers, not only from different parts of the United 
 Kingdom, but from many places abroad, came to inquire 
 into their organisation and their methods of work. 
 
 When it was first proposed to open the college for 
 women in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is now known 
 as Radcliffe College, the Miss Longfellows, who were much 
 interested in the scheme, came for a year to be students 
 at Newnham, in order to acquaint themselves thoroughly 
 with the plans followed there. Another visitor was 
 
Later History of Newnham College 323 
 
 Fraulein Helene Lange, who is well known for her ability 
 and energy in forwarding women's education in Germany, 
 and who visited both Girton and Newnham at the request 
 of the Empress Frederick. Miss Clough had a special 
 interest in this movement in Germany, because Fraulein 
 Alix von Cotta, who was one of her earlier students, had, 
 in 1884, been appointed by the Empress Frederick to the 
 post of Directress of the Victoria Lyceum. This institu- 
 tion, which was started as a private enterprise in 1868 
 by Miss Georgina Archer, under the protection of the 
 Empress Frederick, to satisfy the desire for higher studies 
 among women of the upper classes in Berlin, has now for 
 many years been an important educational centre. Besides 
 providing for women desiring higher education for its own 
 sake alone, it has done much to improve the education, 
 and consequently the position, of women teachers, and has 
 obtained for them Government recognition. It is still the 
 only institution in Germany which offers to women a 
 course of study nearly parallel with those of the Uni- 
 versities. Miss von Cotta, under whom it has grown and 
 developed steadily for the last twelve years, writes to me, 
 that her aim has been to do her work in Miss Clough's 
 spirit, and in the track marked out by her, " to whom," 
 she says, " I owe whatever there may be good and suc- 
 cessful in it." 
 
 The connection which grew up between the colleges 
 and many of the girls' schools in different parts of the 
 country gave the colleges greater influence and made them 
 widely known. A large number of students became 
 teachers, and after a time many schools began to recom- 
 mend their most promising pupils to come to college, 
 and to prepare them for a University course. The old 
 
324 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 students who were teaching came back and talked of 
 their work, and the head mistresses, whether they were old 
 students or not, came to Cambridge to find teachers and to 
 see their old pupils, and took the opportunity of discussing 
 educational matters with the college authorities. The 
 schoolmistresses thus became familiar with the require- 
 ments and the courses of study at the University, and 
 heard the view taken there of the results of different 
 plans of school education. The colleges, on the other 
 hand, were sometimes able to modify their requirements 
 in accordance with the experience of the schools, and they 
 learned what the schools wanted of their teachers. 
 
 Miss Clough's influence did much to bring about and 
 encourage intercourse with the schools. She was, as I 
 have said, as much interested now as at any time in 
 schools and their work, and was always eager to hear 
 of plans and experiments and to help in any movement 
 which the experience of the mistresses showed to be 
 desirable ; and in addition to those who were her old 
 students, she had many personal friends among the 
 mistresses who did not belong to Newnham. 
 
 There were other causes which contributed to raise 
 Newnham in the estimation of the outside world. The 
 improvement in its outward appearance had an undoubted 
 influence, and the college owes much to the fine buildings 
 which Mr. Champneys designed for it. When there was 
 only one Hall, there was not much to impress visitors, 
 especially as the first building turns its best side away 
 from the public ; but when the second Hall was built, the 
 two together gave an impression of solidity and dignity, 
 and when the long line of Clough Hall and the college 
 dining - hall was added, the pile of buildings became 
 
Last Years 325 
 
 imposing. And then it began to be realised that Newn- 
 ham was not merely a place in which those who were 
 willing to sacrifice much for the love of learning could 
 satisfy their cravings, but was also a place which gave 
 scope for much enjoyment. Hundreds of students were, 
 by this time, going about the world talking with enthusi- 
 asm of their friends, their games, and their societies, and 
 it was impossible to keep up the idea that a college for 
 women was much the same thing as a convent. And the 
 opportunities for these pleasures increased as the college 
 grew, and the buildings and grounds became more adequate 
 to the needs of the community. 
 
 For many reasons, it is unlikely that Newnham will 
 ever be much frequented by those who appreciate the 
 pleasures of college life, but have no wish to study ; but 
 undoubtedly many students have come to college who, 
 though they were anxious to study, would not have come 
 if the life had been dreary and unattractive. It is partly 
 because this is not the case, and life there is enjoyable 
 as well as profitable, that the college has included among 
 its students girls from a great variety of classes and of 
 very different circumstances. 
 
 I have already sufficiently described Miss Clough's 
 work at Newnham and the other interests and occupations 
 of her life at this period, and it only remains for me to 
 give a short account of her last years and of a few points 
 which belong specially to them. The development and 
 success of the college naturally brought changes to her 
 personally. She gradually acquired the position of a 
 recognised leader and guide in educational matters, and 
 indeed in all questions concerning the work and careers 
 of women, and was constantly consulted by those who had 
 
326 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 new schemes in hand. The work of advising, criticising, 
 and inspiring was particularly calculated to call out her 
 powers and to bring into play her wisdom, her enterprise 
 and invention, and her fine instincts ; and it seemed as if 
 in these later years, more than ever before, she had found 
 her proper sphere. 
 
 Before Somerville College was opened in 1879, Miss 
 Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, its first Principal, came to Cam- 
 bridge to gather what she could from Miss Clough's 
 experience. Miss Lefevre tells me that she was much 
 struck, after she began her work, by the fact that various 
 matters on which Miss Clough had laid stress, and which 
 had not at the time seemed to her of special importance, 
 were precisely those which came to the front in practice 
 and called for particular attention. She was impressed, 
 too, by Miss Clough's advice not to follow the example of 
 Newnham in everything, since it was well to have a variety 
 of plans, and to discover the advantages of each. 
 
 One undertaking in which Miss Clough was interested, 
 and in which she took some part, was the Parents' 
 National Educational Union. This organisation was 
 started by Miss C. M. Mason about 1887, and Miss 
 Mason has very kindly sent me some reminiscences of 
 her intercourse with Miss Clough in connection with it. 
 After working for some time on a small scale, Miss 
 Mason determined in 1889 to extend the work of her 
 Society, and with this view she communicated with various 
 persons of influence in educational matters, and, among 
 them, with Miss Clough. Miss Mason writes : " I attached 
 very particular weight to Miss Clough's opinions, not only 
 for the sagacity which everyone recognises as her gift, 
 but because I knew a good deal of her work in Amble- 
 
Last Years 327 
 
 side. ... I knew that she, almost alone, I thought, 
 amongst educationalists, had very strong sympathy with 
 parents. She united in a unique way the old and the 
 new. She understood and believed in parents of the 
 sort who educated their children quietly on the lines of 
 Evenings at Home, etc. . . . Her respect for parents and 
 her regard for their convenience and consideration for 
 their wishes were very pronounced ; and from her I felt 
 I should obtain real and active sympathy in a movement 
 intended to bring parents to the front as recognised 
 educators of their children. 
 
 " Insistence upon local effort, small beginnings, quiet 
 working, and steadfast effort, was the note of all Miss 
 Clough's communications relative to the Parents' Union. 
 It would be difficult to say how much her line of thought 
 on the subject influenced me, and how much it fell in with 
 my own, but it is quite certain that these are the lines 
 upon which we still work. . . . Thus a vigorous and 
 powerful Society has grown up, worked, however uninten- 
 tionally, upon the very lines Miss Clough indicated. . . . 
 
 " Miss Clough early consented to be a member of the 
 Council of the P. K E. U., and she took the office 
 seriously, going carefully into every question that was 
 brought before her. My last recollection of her is con- 
 nected with a meeting of the Council, held in the great 
 Hall of the College of Preceptors. . . . This meeting of 
 the Council was called for the final discussion of the 
 principle and objects of the Parents' National Educational 
 Union. Several leading educationalists were present. . . . 
 The debate was long and earnest ; Miss Clough took part 
 in the discussion upon every clause, and the result of the 
 meeting was the principles and objects of the P. N. E. U." 
 
328 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 Another enterprise in which Miss Clough was interested 
 was the National Home Eeading Union, and she corre- 
 sponded for a time with one of its chief promoters, Dr. 
 Pa ton of Nottingham, as to various possible developments 
 of the scheme. 
 
 Miss Clough's incessant activity had often caused her 
 friends to be alarmed for her health, and about 1888 she 
 began to show signs of failing strength. She had a very 
 strong constitution, but the energy which she put out in so 
 many directions must have been a strain on the strongest, 
 and her anxious disposition made her work more trying. 
 To the very end of her life her interest and energy were 
 entirely unabated, and there was no sign of age in her mind, 
 but she began to look much older, and was often excessively 
 tired. The Council of the College was always anxious to 
 relieve her of any part of her work which she would 
 consent to leave to others. Since 1878 she had had the 
 help of a secretary, and in 1889, in order to still further 
 relieve her, the Council decided to appoint a Vice-Principal, 
 who should reside with her in Clough Hall, and would be 
 qualified to do any part of the work of superintendence 
 which Miss Clough was inclined to give up. Miss 
 Katherine Stephen, who had been secretary to Miss Glad- 
 stone since 1886, accepted this post, and came to Clough 
 Hall in the beginning of 1890. 
 
 The number of Miss Clough's interests seemed to 
 increase rather than diminish as she grew older, and these 
 last years were as full of varied activity as any part of her 
 life. She still travelled about a great deal, and attended 
 meetings on educational questions and others, both in 
 London and at Cambridge. In the summer of 1889, after 
 a fatiguing term, she went to Liverpool and New Brighton 
 
Last Years 329 
 
 to give away prizes, and give addresses at several schools. 
 She visited five or six schools, and did not content herself 
 with seeing the children assembled, but went round the 
 different classes. At one school she made a particular 
 friendship with a little girl, who had written some verses to 
 celebrate her visit, and corresponded with her afterwards ; 
 and at another she very strenuously urged the formation 
 of a school library, and gave a subscription to start it. 
 The girls wrote afterwards to let her know that this had 
 been done, and to tell her what books were in the library. 
 
 This same summer she spent a most enjoyable month 
 in Wales with her cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Williams Ellis, 
 and their little boys (for whom she had a particular 
 affection), and distinguished herself by her pleasure in long 
 walks, and her success in surmounting stone walls. It 
 was, however, in her holidays that it became most evident 
 that her strength was failing, for, whereas at Cambridge 
 she would read prayers every morning at eight o'clock, and 
 hardly take half an hour's rest in the day, when there was 
 no motive for such efforts, she was quite ready to fall into 
 the ways of a delicate person, and to rest and spare herself 
 as much as possible. 
 
 She had innumerable visitors at Cambridge during 
 these years, and discussed all manner of questions with 
 them. In 1890 and 1891 the University held a summer 
 meeting of Extension Students at Cambridge. Twenty or 
 thirty of the ladies who were attending the lectures were 
 received at Newnham for three weeks, and Miss Clough 
 was of course much interested in making acquaintance with 
 them alL 
 
 She was fond of giving small parties for children, and 
 of having one or other of the grandchildren of the college 
 
3 30 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 to spend an afternoon with her, and there was a certain 
 drawer in her room where elaborately-named dolls and 
 minute tea-things were kept ready for use. Her variety 
 of occupations sometimes produced amusing situations. I 
 remember on one occasion one of the grandchildren, little 
 Margery Ward, came to spend the afternoon, and an 
 imaginary tea-party was going on when a Kussian professor 
 was announced. He had come to learn about the education 
 of women in England, and Miss Clough retired to the other 
 end of the room to give him the information he wished for. 
 But the imaginary tea was by this time poured out, and 
 Margery's politeness would not allow her to drink it alone. 
 She took a cup to Miss Clough, who accepted it with due 
 gravity, and she then tried to press one on the tall professor. 
 He was much surprised and embarrassed at the interruption, 
 and Miss Clough had to intervene and explain to Margery 
 that this gentleman did not take tea. 
 
 A former student of Newnham, Miss A. C. Johnson, 
 who is head of a Government Training College for coloured 
 girls in Jamaica, was in England for a holiday in 1890, 
 and Miss Clough was deeply interested in her account of 
 her work. It was arranged between them that when Miss 
 Johnson returned to Jamaica she should get some of her 
 girls to write essays, and that Miss Clough should examine 
 them, and give a prize for the best essay. The plan was 
 carried out, and Miss Clough read the essays with much 
 care and much entertainment, and after some consultation 
 with others, the prizes were awarded. Miss Stephen, who 
 examined the essays with her, remembers the very distinct 
 views she had as to their comparative merits, and Miss 
 Johnson said afterwards that Miss Clough had certainly 
 picked out the cleverest girls. 
 
Last Years 331 
 
 She was always anxious to encourage her own students 
 to learn how to express themselves, and was particularly 
 concerned about the mathematical and science students, 
 who, she thought, got no training of the kind. She once 
 offered a prize to the students in her Hall who were work- 
 ing at these subjects for the best essay on a literary subject. 
 The University has now made the writing of an essay a 
 necessary part of the Previous Examination, and of most of 
 the Triposes. 
 
 Though the arrangements made by the Council relieved 
 Miss Clough of some of the routine work, and gave her 
 plenty of helpers who could carry out her wishes, she took 
 as much part as ever in the students' lives, and her 
 interest in each individual and active kindness to everyone 
 never grew less. She was the same wise and helpful friend 
 to the students of 1891 that she had been to many earlier 
 generations. One, at least, of the little instances of 
 thoughtful kindness which I have given in an earlier 
 chapter belongs to this time, and the following sentences 
 occur in a letter from a student who was at college for 
 the last two years of Miss Clough's life. She writes to 
 me : " I can remember very few of her words, but I can 
 never forget her beautiful face and her loving sympathy 
 when in my first term, while I was still terribly shy in the 
 midst of strangers, I lost my brother. I never saw a 
 great deal of her, she knew practically nothing of my home 
 circumstances, but I think that somehow she knew what 
 was best in me. . . . Whenever there is any great change 
 in my life, I think of her, and wish I could have her advice 
 and her blessing on my new work. ... I have never 
 known anyone whose memory left such an impression of 
 beauty and simplicity upon me. What could have been 
 
332 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 simpler than the words in which she summed up the good 
 of a three years' training at college : ' My dear, you will be 
 able to amuse them better when you go home ' ; which is 
 exactly what I had to try and do." 
 
 Now that the college contained one hundred and forty 
 students, it was impossible for her to have an intimate 
 knowledge of many outside her own Hall, but she tried to 
 know something of most of them, and took advantage of 
 any occasion when the whole college met together to 
 become acquainted with students newly come, or to see 
 more of those she already knew. She could not keep all 
 their names and faces clear, but directly she was reminded 
 of their names, she knew all about them. I remember on 
 one occasion, when I was walking with her in the garden, we 
 met one of the students whom she did not at once recog- 
 nise. She asked me her name, and when I told her, she 
 turned back without a moment's hesitation and asked the 
 girl after her brother, who had been ill. 
 
 The feeling towards her of those who came into close 
 contact with her was the same in character at all periods, 
 but in her later years the attitude of the whole college was 
 one of reverence. The new generations learnt something 
 of this from those above them, and many students had 
 heard of her from old students, or others who knew her, 
 before they came, and it was generally known that the 
 success of the college was largely owing to her. This 
 feeling was strengthened by her appearance, and especially 
 by her occasional addresses to the students, which revealed 
 something of her character to them. 
 
 One student who was at college for the last two years 
 of Miss Clough's life, but not in her Hall, writes to me : 
 " I went up to college quite ignorant of the history of 
 
Last Years 2>ZZ 
 
 Newnham, and I quite well remember a conversation at 
 the end of my first term which gave me the first insight 
 into the feeling of the students for the Principal, as 
 not only Principal, but foundress and mother of the 
 college. 
 
 " Of the discourses before Commemoration I remember 
 especially one, in which she warned us against letting our 
 independent life at Newnham unfit us for the necessary 
 restraints of family life. I remember the simplicity and 
 directness of her speaking, and I remember feeling myself 
 constrained to return to a point of view which I thought I 
 had outgrown. 
 
 " In my time the personal intercourse with the 
 Principal was less than in the earlier days, but the feeling 
 of reverence for her could never have been greater. It 
 was, perhaps, intensified by her being a little lifted out of 
 our own everyday life. We knew, of course, that the 
 Principal took an individual interest in each one of us, and 
 that though she used to forget our names, she really knew 
 us all, but any special notice was a keener pleasure than it 
 can have been in earlier days." 
 
 Another student of the latest days writes of one of 
 her addresses that it made her " realise how strong was 
 the current of life in her, and how we all had a share in 
 it." 
 
 In these later years Miss Clough was more usually 
 seen to advantage than at an earlier time. She was more 
 habitually serene, and her success and the general respect 
 shown to her gave her more confidence in herself, and 
 therefore greater ease in social intercourse. She now 
 talked readily, and had less hesitation than formerly in 
 bringing out her ideas ; her individuality was allowed free 
 
334 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 expression, and constantly gave a charm to what she said 
 and did. 
 
 The striking points in her appearance became more 
 marked as she grew older, and there were many who, like 
 a student whom I have quoted, would have described her 
 face as beautiful. In 1882 the students had subscribed for 
 a portrait of her by Mr. W. B. Eichmond, and this portrait 
 now hangs in the Library of the college. It is a fine 
 picture, but it presents Miss Clough in a severe aspect 
 which was not familiar to her friends. In 1890 another 
 subscription was raised among students and friends, and a 
 second portrait was painted by Mr. J. J. Shannon. Mr. 
 Shannon had already painted Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick 
 for the college, and a few years later he painted Miss 
 Marion Kennedy, and the four portraits hang together in 
 the college hall. Mr. Shannon's portrait of Miss Clough 
 has given great satisfaction, and is a very pleasant repre- 
 sentation of her ; but to some of her friends it seems to be 
 wanting in life and power, and to make her look unusually 
 old and tired. 
 
 In 1890 Miss Philippa Fawcett came out above the 
 Senior Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos. This was a 
 great triumph for the college, and a great pleasure to Miss 
 Clough. The college celebrated Miss Fawcett's success by 
 an impromptu feast, at which Mrs. Fawcett and other 
 friends and benefactors were present. Miss Clough pro- 
 posed Miss Fawcett's health, and in the course of her little 
 speech she said to the students, " I hope, my dears, it 
 will be a lesson to you all to go to bed early." It was 
 suggested that Miss Fawcett would not do equally well in 
 the work required for the second part of the Tripos, which 
 is commonly only taken by the best mathematicians of the 
 
Last Years 335 
 
 previous year, and for which more originality is required. 
 However, in 1891, Miss Fawcett came out in the first 
 division of the first class. 1 
 
 Miss Clough finished her summer holiday of 1890 by 
 an expedition to Holland, in which Miss Bonham Carter, 
 Miss Fawcett, and I accompanied her. Her enjoyment of 
 this three weeks' trip was delightful to see. She was 
 infinitely entertained with the new places, new people, 
 and new ways of life, and charmed with the picture- 
 galleries, the canals, and the picturesque buildings. The 
 only drawback was that, as she did not know Dutch, she 
 could not talk to all the people she met in shops, and 
 steamboats, and railway carriages. She came home much 
 refreshed, in spite of the fatigue of travelling, and with her 
 mind full to overflowing with all she had seen. 
 
 The following summer she went to Ireland to be 
 present at the Commemoration at Alexandra College, 
 Dublin, of which her old student, Miss H. M. White, was 
 Principal. She spent some weeks in Ireland, paying visits, 
 and then went to Ambleside. She had set her mind for 
 some time on going there this year, evidently feeling that 
 it was for the last time. She was able to see a great deal 
 of her old friend, Miss Claude, and she made a great point 
 of seeing all her old Ambleside friends. She attended the 
 Kush-bearing, which is an annual festival at Ambleside, 
 with two of her old friends who still lived near her old 
 house on Eller Bigg, and insisted on speaking to all her 
 old pupils, and to everyone she had known. 
 
 Soon after she got back to Cambridge she wrote as 
 
 1 In this examination the candidates take different subjects, and are 
 therefore not placed in order, but only in classes and divisions of classes, so 
 that a first division of the first class is the highest place attainable. 
 
336 Memoir of Anne J . C lough 
 
 follows to her old friend, Mrs. Bacot, the Maria Lance of 
 her Charleston days : 
 
 " I was very pleased to get your letter and reminder 
 of old times. My life is so full that I have to neglect 
 some of my correspondence. My family increases so very 
 fast, and brings me every year new young people to think 
 of and plan for. But still I recall my old friends and past 
 days, when we used to talk together of our future, and 
 make many plans, in the sunny, bright days of our youth 
 at Charleston, when our mothers were with us. I rejoice 
 that you have an affectionate daughter to watch over you 
 and work for you. I have a niece who is very devoted, 
 and a young lecturer of the college, Edith Sharpley, who 
 is a daughter to me. I am getting old, as you know, for 
 are we not both the same age ? Still, I get about among 
 my students and manage to see a good deal of them. 
 They are scattered all over the world, some in America, 
 some in India, Japan, South Africa, Australia, and letters 
 come from these distant parts telling of their doings. 
 Some are settled near me, married, and with children. So 
 it seems as if the dreams of my youth were realised, and I 
 feel as if the end were not far off, but I am glad to linger 
 on and watch over my girls and my work a little longer." 
 
 In the Michaelmas term of 1891 she was for some 
 weeks very unwell, and obliged to keep in her room and 
 on her sofa, and though she got better, she did not recover 
 much strength, but she was full of interests and was much 
 occupied with various matters. 
 
 The Government of New South Wales had shortly 
 before decided to open a hostel for women students, in con- 
 nection with the University of Sydney. A lady principal 
 for this hostel was to be selected in England, and a num- 
 
Last Years 2>2>7 
 
 ber of ladies with experience in educational matters were 
 asked to join a Committee which was to help the Agent- 
 General, Sir Saul Samuel, in choosing the best candidate. 
 Miss Clough was one of this Committee, and among the 
 other members were Miss Welsh, the Mistress of Girton ; 
 Miss Maitland, Principal of Somerville Hall ; Miss Words- 
 worth, Principal of Lady Margaret ; and Miss Shaw Lefevre. 
 Miss Clough attended several meetings of this Committee 
 in London, and held many private consultations, and studied 
 the testimonials of the candidates with the greatest care. 
 Finally, she assisted in electing Miss Macdonald to the 
 post a choice which has been fully justified by Miss 
 Macdonald's success. One of the ladies of this Committee 
 almost refused to believe that Miss Clough was failing in 
 health, because she had shown so much vigour and acute- 
 ness in questioning the candidates. 
 
 She was also deeply interested in a plan for starting a 
 school for girls in Siam. Mr. Morant, who was at that time 
 one of the advisers of the King of Siam, was just then 
 in England looking for teachers, both for a girls' school and 
 a boys' school to be opened in Bangkok, and Miss Clough 
 saw and talked with him about the matter. The two 
 schools were a Government undertaking, and were intended 
 for the highest class of the Siamese. There was one of 
 Miss Clough's old students, Miss Blanche Smith, who had 
 always shared her taste for adventure and her interest in 
 new places and people. Miss Smith had travelled in 
 California and Hawaii, and Miss Clough had followed 
 her adventures with delight. She now suggested to Miss 
 Smith to offer herself as a candidate for the post of head 
 mistress of the proposed girls' school in Siam, and after 
 some consideration Miss Smith did so, and was accepted, 
 
 22 
 
338 Memoir of A nne J. C lough 
 
 While the matter was still in doubt, Miss Clough 
 wrote to her as follows : " My dearest Blanche, I want to 
 know if you feel to have courage to go to Siam. Don't do 
 it if you think you are afraid. You will have to make up 
 your mind to go through with it if you accept, and it really 
 seems to me a noble and important work, and one you will 
 rejoice to have done." 
 
 Two other ladies were to go with her, and Miss Clough 
 exerted herself to hear of suitable candidates, and wrote 
 various letters on the subject. 
 
 Miss Smith went out to Bangkok some months after 
 Miss Clough's death, and succeeded in creating a school 
 where the Siamese girls receive an education well calculated 
 to develop them both in character and in mind. By means 
 of her ability, her zeal, and her tact, she carried on a dim- 
 cult undertaking for more than three years, and finally 
 established it on a comparatively firm basis, and left it in 
 the hands of a competent successor. 
 
 It was in this autumn term of 1891 that at Miss 
 Clough's instigation the students first began to play hockey. 
 A match was arranged with the girls of Miss Lawrence's 
 school at Brighton. 1 Miss Clough was much interested in 
 this match, and although she was not allowed to leave her 
 room on the day when it was played, she sent roses to the 
 Brighton girls, and insisted on speaking to them at her 
 window. 
 
 One event occurred this year which was of great 
 importance to the college, and gave great pleasure to 
 Miss Clough. When the second Hall, now called Sidgwick 
 Hall, was built, the only available site near the first 
 
 1 This school has a certain connection with Newnham, from the fact of 
 two of the Miss Lawrences being old students of the college. 
 
Last Years 339 
 
 building was on the other side of a public footpath. 
 Clough Hall was built on the same side of the path as 
 Sidgwick Hall, and thus the Old Hall was separated from 
 the other buildings, and the garden was cut in two. This 
 naturally caused great inconvenience, and negotiations had 
 long been going on, with a view to obtaining permission 
 to close the footpath and replace it by a road on the 
 outside boundary of the Newnham grounds, which, owing 
 to the growth of Cambridge in this direction, was much 
 wanted. Naturally these negotiations were difficult and 
 long drawn out, and it was not till 1891, after they had 
 been carried on for at least three years, that the permis- 
 sion was obtained. Miss Clough did not live to see this 
 decision acted upon, but she had the great satisfaction of 
 knowing that it had been arrived at, and that it would now 
 be possible to unite the whole college under one roof, and 
 to get rid of all the disadvantages caused by the then 
 existing state of things. The results of the change have 
 been really of incalculable value to the college, and for 
 this, as for so many other things, it has to thank Professor 
 and Mrs. Sidgwick. Not only did Professor and Mrs. 
 Sidgwick, in company with Mr. K. T. Wright, spend much 
 time and trouble on the prolonged negotiations, but it was 
 their generosity in undertaking to pay the cost of making 
 the road, and of the very considerable compensation 
 required by the various owners of the land through which 
 the road must necessarily pass, which made a successful 
 issue possible, and brought about what has benefited 
 not only the college, but, it may be added, the public 
 also. 
 
 When the Christmas vacation came, Miss Clough 
 consented to give up her usual little gathering, and to go 
 
34-0 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 first to London, and then for a fortnight to Hastings with 
 Mrs. Arthur Clough. She evidently felt very weak at 
 this time, but she would go on working till the end of 
 the term. I was present once when she received a letter 
 from a friend urging her to take care of herself. She 
 looked up with her eyes flashing, and said almost fiercely, 
 " Why, one may as well go on working as long as 
 one can." 
 
 She was particularly serene and gentle during her 
 visit to Hastings, and enjoyed her little walks and the 
 sights of the place. She had one of her old students 
 Miss Dora Pease with her, as well as Mrs. Clough, for a 
 week, and she enjoyed seeing Miss Finlay, another old 
 student, who lived there. She went back to Cambridge 
 a few days after the term began, and for a week or two 
 she consented to keep very quiet and do little work. She 
 saw a good deal of the students, and had some of them 
 often in her room. Mr. Morant came to see her about 
 the Siamese school, and she arranged for him to address 
 some of the students on the subject. Mrs. Clough wrote 
 to beg her to come to London and be taken care of ; but 
 she said to me, " I don't want to go away, I'm very well 
 amused here." On January 21st she heard with great 
 sorrow of the death of her friend Professor Adams, and 
 she attended the funeral service held in Pembroke Chapel 
 on the 26 th. 
 
 On the 3rd of February she presided at a Committee 
 at which it was decided to recommend the Council, now 
 that permission to close the footpath had been obtained, 
 to build an entrance gateway to the college, with rooms 
 over it and on each side. It was to be connected 
 with the Old Hall on one side and Sidgwick Hall 
 
Last Years 341 
 
 on tha other, and thus to unite the whole college in 
 one building. 1 
 
 Late in the evening of the 5 th she had a severe attack 
 of breathlessness, and the doctor was sent for. Her old 
 friend Dr. Latham was out of Cambridge at the time, but 
 Mr. Wherry kindly came and spent the night at the 
 college, and was able to relieve her. Dr. Latham came 
 next morning and examined her, and said that her heart 
 was in a very dangerous condition. At first, however, she 
 seemed to revive, and for the first ten days grew gradually 
 a little stronger. 
 
 Her bedroom was small, and her bed was left where 
 it had been placed the first night in her large airy sitting- 
 room. She had a nice nurse, and was allowed to see a 
 friend occasionally, and one of her lecturers Miss Sharpley 
 and I were constantly with her. Mrs. Clough came 
 down for a few days, and Miss Clough enjoyed seeing her 
 very much. She suffered from weakness and weariness, 
 but had no pain, and was always calm and cheerful. She 
 sent messages to different students, and heard what was 
 going on, and was still full of suggestions and thought for 
 one person and another. She enjoyed having the flowers 
 about her which her friends sent, and having books read 
 to her. She was interested in Norman's Real Japan, and 
 in various stories which we read. 
 
 She got so far better that one day she was able to 
 get up and walk into the next room, but after that the 
 cold weather, to which she was always sensitive, seemed to 
 affect her, and she grew gradually weaker. She knew that 
 
 1 In this gateway there have since been placed some beautiful bronze 
 gates, designed by Mr. Champneys, and presented to the college by old 
 students in memory of Miss Clough. 
 
34 2 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 she was very ill, but said little about it, and was, I think, 
 perfectly contented. Once, after an attack of breathless- 
 ness and great exhaustion, she looked at me very intently 
 and said, " It doesn't matter," and I thought at the time 
 that she was not speaking of the moment only, but of the 
 fact that she was not likely to recover. 
 
 In the evening of the 26 th of February she was very 
 much exhausted, and said, " I shall not survive the night ; 
 give my love to the students." She grew weaker through 
 the night, and, in answer to some remark from the nurse, 
 she said, " It can't matter now." The nurse asked her to 
 be very still, and she said, with the most childlike sim- 
 plicity, " I will try." She lay with her face towards the 
 window, and as the grey light came in, she said first some- 
 thing about its being " good weather for building the wall " 
 along the new road, and then something about " a bird or 
 two." Gradually her breath came more slowly, and she 
 died quite quietly, looking out at the light. 
 
 In some written instructions to her executors, she had 
 expressed a wish to be buried in a churchyard, and not in 
 one of the cemeteries. Fortunately, she possessed two 
 cottages, just outside the bounds of Cambridge, and these 
 gave the right of burial in the village churchyard of Grant- 
 chester. She had built these cottages with money left her 
 by Miss Crofton, the old friend for whom she had cared so 
 long, and had called them after her, Crofton Cottages. 
 
 The Provost and Fellows of King's College most kindly 
 offered the use of their chapel for the first part of the 
 service, and this was very gratefully accepted. An invi- 
 tation to the funeral was sent to all old students, and it 
 was arranged that it should take place on Saturday, in 
 order to enable those who were teaching in schools to be 
 
Last Years 343 
 
 present. Between two and three hundred came from many 
 different parts of the country. In her instructions she 
 had written : " It would be a grievous thing if anyone 
 were to get ill at my funeral " ; and several friends stayed 
 away in deference to this expression of her wishes. 
 
 Besides Miss Clough's family, and the members of the 
 Council, the staff, and students of Newnham College, there 
 were present in the chapel the staff and many students of 
 Girton College, the representatives of various women's 
 colleges and educational bodies, and a very large 
 number of members of the University and residents in 
 Cambridge. 
 
 The service was performed by her cousin, Mr. Williams 
 Ellis, and her friend and fellow-worker for many years, the 
 present Bishop of Stepney. 
 
 She was buried in the village churchyard at Grant- 
 chester, a mile or two from her college. 
 
 I should like, in concluding this account of Miss 
 Clough's life, to recall some words of her own, written 
 when she was twenty-one. 
 
 In her Diary for 1841 she wrote: "I care not for 
 honour or praise if I could only really do something to 
 benefit my fellow-creatures. If I were a man, I would 
 not work for riches or to leave a wealthy family behind 
 me ; I would work for my country, and make its people 
 my heirs." 
 
 Side by side with this passage, I wish to place the not 
 less characteristic words of counsel which occur in her 
 last address to the students leaving college. 
 
 "One word more. Take the little pleasures of life, 
 watch the sunsets and the clouds, the shadows in the 
 
344 Memoir of Anne J. C lough 
 
 streets and the misty light over our great cities. These 
 bring joy by the way and thankfulness to our Heavenly 
 Father." 
 
 These two passages bring out vividly, it seems to me, 
 the spirit which inspired her life of strenuous endeavour, 
 and the trustful serenity and power of enjoyment which 
 made her life one of happiness to herself and a source of 
 happiness to others. 
 
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