the most part born without the love of physical exertion which so distinguishes their English cousins. And co-existent with this there seems to be on the other hand a greater readiness for study, a greater willingness to apply steadily to learning and find pleasure in it for its own sake, than we often find among students of the same age in England. Certainly the amount of actual mental work exacted and obtained from the youth of both sexes in America seems to me greater than could usually be got in England, and, as far as my observation goes, the students themselves do not rebel against it, as I think is more or less the instinct of healthy English boys and girls. I do not pretend to account for these differences, nor indeed to do more than record my own impressions on the point, but it is one that has struck me repeatedly. Another feature in Oberlin College which impressed me unfavourably was the very low scale of prices, and consequently inadequate payment of the Professors. Of course the missionary character assumed by the College from the first must be taken into account, and it is in some sense consistent with this that the Professors should consent to labour for a rate of remuneration barely sufficient to provide them with the necessaries of life, and, in cases where they have large families, often inadequate to furnish them with domestic service. But, as far as I could learn, there exists no real necessity for so very low a scale of charges as are made for instruction, many at least of the pupils being able to pay at a somewhat higher rate. I do not, however, know how far it would now be in the power of the Faculty to raise more money by fees, as the only existing endowment (consisting of about $7,000 per annum) was raised by the sale of one thousand perpetual scholarships, the holders or lessees of which are entitled to a free education, and it is on this basis that nearly all the students are entered. In the Theological Department, even without these scholarships, instruction is free. In the other departments, the above-mentioned scholarships may be "rented" for about $3 a term, the whole charge for the year amounting therefore (according to the rate of exchange) to about thirty shillings, to which - is added another ten shillings charged for "incidental expenses." "Board can be obtained in the Halls and of the neighbouring families for sums varying from eight to fifteen shillings a week; and in the College Halls, where the charge is lowest, it may be still further diminished by manual labour for the good of the community. No one, at least, can complain that education is here an expensive luxury! I have now to speak of the point which first interested me in the idea and existence of Oberlin, and which first made me desire when on the other side of the Atlantic to see this and other similar Colleges with my own eyes, and from them draw my own conclusions: I mean the joint education of the sexes, as here existing. The subject is one sure to be bitterly contested; for on the one side are ranged all the old habits of thought of the many, who see in the new system the downfall of all propriety; and on the other the unmeasured enthusiasm of the few, who believe it to contain the germs of all future progress. Between the two it is sufficiently hard to decide; and it is only as a contribution to the data from which to form a conclusion that I have endeavoured carefully to collect, and now honestly to state, such evidence as I could find to bear on the subject. At Oberlin the regulations are such that it is the education alone which is common to both sexes, the social life being completely separate, with the exception that the meals in the Ladies' Hall are shared by the occupants of Tappan Hall. At prayer-meetings, indeed, all the students may meet, and at the different lectures in the chapel, as well as at all recitations in the class-rooms; but they are strictly forbidden to walk to and from such meetings with those of the opposite sex, or to have any intercourse with them out of hours; and, as far as I could learn, the regulations seemed to be well obeyed. In the class-rooms the girls generally occupy the front benches, and the young men those behind, or sometimes one side of the room is appropriated to each, as in the chapel a general division runs down the middle. I conversed with many of the Professors on the subject of this joint education, and also inquired the individual opinion of each as to the relative mental powers of the male and female students. On the general issue, I found almost complete agreement in favour of the joint education. With regard to the latter inquiry, some diversity of opinion existed. Besides the oral testimony which I was at pains to collect, I was referred to a small pamphlet on the subject, prepared by the same Professor whose record of Oberlin's early history I have already quoted. The first advantage of the system, as there set forth, is its economy, the provision requisite for educating the youth of one sex being, as is urged, usually sufficient for both, or at least capable of being made so with small addition, and thus a double gain secured at little more than a single outlay. It is, I suppose, undeniable, that where provision for educating both sexes is not made, it is the girls that will go to the wall, as is seen almost everywhere in England when once we pass beyond the limit of national schools, where both sexes are more or less commonly taught together, or at least provided with similar |
