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AntO's
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JANUARY, 1903.
No. 10.
Asug's gifttb. A. Malone, Vice-President (till July, 1904). E. M. Olivier, Editor (till July, 1904). E. M. Spooner (till July, 1903).
Miss Moberly, President (till July, 19o4). J. Turner, Vice-President (till July, 1904), C. Hedley (till July, .r9o3). H. D. M. Stark (till July, 1go3). B. M. Sparks, Secretary (till July, 19o4).
J. Watson, Treasurer (till July, 19o4). A. I. Woodhouse (till July, 1903). M. M. Crick (Senior Student).
Wembers. Abbott, A. M., 36, Grosvenor Street, Grosvenor Square, W. *Abdy, D. C.St. Monica's, Zanzibar, S. Africa. 118, Queen's Road, Tunbridge Wells. `St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. *Ady, C. 1Charing, Kent. 29, Peak Hill Road, Croydon. *Ash, L. *Ashburner, C. E. High School, Lincoln. Batchelor, F. M. S., Letcombe Basset Vicarage, Wantage. Bell, A. 4, Beech Villas, Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire. Bird, P. cio Miss White, 47,Earl's Avenue, Folkestone. 59, Colfe Road, Forest Hill, S.E. *Birley, M. H. f St. Augustine's School. House, Kimberley, Cape [Colony. 120, St. Michael's Road, Bedford. *Blamire-Brown, f Monks Risborough Rectory, Princes Risborough, R. E. L Bucks. *Brain-Hartnell, Mrs., The Cotswold Sanatorium, nr. Stroud, Glos.
1
(C. L. Barker).
*Browne, M. E. 1 High School, Birkenhead. Rosslyn Mansions, S. Hampstead, N.W. *Bulkeley, M. M. The Rectory, Morpeth. Burnett, M. E. Buxton, W. E. *Coombes, L. Cooper, V. Cox, Mrs. A.
f Courteen Hall, Northampton. 159, Brompton Square, S.W. f High School for Girls, Nottingham. 17, Bath Road, Bedford Park, Chiswick. High School, Monmouth. f 48, Grosvenor Gardens, S.W. Markree Castle, Collooney, Ireland. 58, High Street, Watford.
(S. M. Iles).
f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 1Litton Cheney Vicarage, Dorset. Cunynghame, G. M. E., Clarendon House, East Grinstead. Dawson, L. I. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. The Elms, Coleraine Road, Blackheath, S.E. f The Royal School, Bath. De Castro, I. P. M. L. 1 x 5F, Hyde Park Mansions. *Deneke, H. C. I. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 1 tot, Denmark Hill, S.E. Dening, C. L. A. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 1Manor House, Stow-on-the•Wold. Eakin, M. L. 'Church High School, Hull. )The Bridge House, Shrewsbury. *Emmerson, J. A. (Yorkshire College, Leeds. 1 55, Court Hill Road, Lewisham, S.E. Etlinger, F. von f9, Elm Park Mansions, Park Road, S.W. Seamount, Howth, co. Dublin. Fairbanks, A. L. Harptree Lodge, Wells, Somerset. Spring Villa, Moat Road, E. Grinstead. Fear, H. M. Flamsteed, f Belle Vue Seminary, Somerset East, Cape M. M. D.1 Colony. Fowler, A. C. f The Polytechnic, Tottenham, N. 1.3, Lealand Road, Stamford Hill.
*Crick, M. M.
Gent, Mrs. H. C. St. Katherine's Lodge, Knowle, Bristol. (S. E. Kershaw).
*Goodchilcl, A. C. f C.M.S. Chundicully, Jaffna, Ceylon. 1 I r r, Eaton Terrace, S.W. Grant, M. A.
f High School, Tunbridge Wells. 128, Linden Road, Bedford.
Grattan, E. H. G. f Grey Coat School, Westminster, S.W. 1 Katharine House, Addiscombe, Croydon. Hales, A. M. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 127, Cambridge Road, Hove, Brighton. Hamilton, G. 3, Wallbutton Road, Brockley, S.E. Hamilton, R. E. f Central Foundation School, Spital Square, E.C., 13, Wallbutton Road, Brockley, S.E. Harvey, Mrs. R. Hanbury Vicarage, Bromsgrove. (C. D. Barter.)
Hatch, E. M.
f Romagnieu, Par le Pont de Beauvoisin, Isere,. France. 'High School, Clifton. Hedley, C. 17o, Talbot Road, Southport. *Hodge, D. M. V. f Queen Anne's School, Caversham, Reading. 1.12, St. Margaret's Road, Oxford. Horner, W. S. H. Eldersfield Vicarage, Tewkesbury, Glos. *Hudson, H. M. Elderslea, Bushey Heath. Hunt, E. A. efo Mrs. Hardy, Whitehall, Chigwell, Essex., *Hunter, H. C. St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Joel, C. S. Bishop Otter College, Chichester. *Johnston, J. A. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. The Bank, Spalding, Lincs. *Jourdain, C. E. 63, Chesterton Road, Cambridge:. Havergal College, Toronto. *Knox, E. M. Langston, B. f Westminster City School. 165, Warwick Square,. S.W. Langston, F. M. 65, Warwick Square,. S.W. 177, Banbury Road, Oxford. *Lee, M. L. 1Leafield, Witney, Oxon. Levett, D. M. N. The Parsonage, Brenchley, Kent. Lidbetter, E. M. f The Thomlinson School, Wigton, Cumberland.. 1StPaul's Vicarage, Southampton. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Ludwig, D. 1Grey Coat School, Westminster, S.W. Greenisland, Co. Antrim, Ireland. *McCall, F. H. 4, Brunswick Square, W.C., Malone, A. Mammatt, W. M. Brookside, Ilkley, Yorks. Marriott, Mrs. J. A. R., 92, Woodstock Road, Oxford.,
A.
.
(H. Robinson).
Matravers, E. C.f Eaton House, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. 159, Howard Place, Carlisle. May, E. G.f The Intermediate School for Girls, Pontypool. {Ravens Clift, Oxford Rd. , Moseley, Birmingham. Medill, G. I. K., Rostrevor, Denmark Avenue, W,imbledon. Mitchell, W. J. de L., The Oaks, Rondebosch, Capetown. *Moberly, C. A. E. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Parsonage, Sydenham, S,E. Wilton Rectory, Salisbury. Olivier, E. M. f Diocesan Girls' School, Grahamstown, S. Africa. Owen, E. A. 1Damerham Vicarage, Salisbury. Parsons, G. I. f High School, Falmouth. 16, Hilltop Road, West End Lane, Hampstead. Payan Dawnay, Mrs., 48, St. Mary Abbots Terrace, Kensington,W, .
.
(A. B. Townsend).
Dodderhill Vicarage, Droitwich. Price, H. Prideaux,E.M.C. f Grammar School for Girls, Bradford. 1St. Saviour's Vicarage, Redland, Bristol,
Ramsay, Mrs. A. S., 71, Chesterton Road, Cambridge. (A. Wilson).
f St. Anne's, Abbots' Bromley, Rugeley. Kingscote House, East Grinstead. *Rickards, H. A. f Thomlinson School, Wigton. 1Dixton Vicarage, Monmouth. Rogers, L. E. (St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 175, Southside, Clapham Common, S.W. Mill. House, Eynsford, Kent. *Selby, G. M. Shuttleworth, f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. M. A. Choir School, College Green, Worcester. Simpson, V. A. St. Mark's Rectory, Bexhill, Sussex. (St. Bernard's, Newton Abbott, Devon. Simpson, J. 1Warleigh House, Southbourne Road, Sheffield. Simpson, M. L. f St. Bernard's, Newton Abbott, Devon. 1Warleigh House, Southbourne Road, Sheffield. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Snowdon, E. M. H.ISunninghill Vicarage, Berks. Sparks, B. M. f Grey Coat School, Westminster, S.W. 1Carrington Vicarage, Nottingham. Spooner, E. M. 7, Station Road, Kew Gardens, Surrey. Stark, H. D. M. (Graham Street High School, S.W. 19, Allfarthing Lane, Wandsworth, S.W. f Godolphin High School, Salisbury. Steer, G. E. lRyhall Vicarage, Stamford. Stoton, F. E. The Warren, Eynsham, Oxon. Swetenham, Mrs. Rice, M. A.
(E. B. L. Watson).
(c/o Miss Carey, Toynton House, Felixstowe. 1168, Brixton Hill, S.W. Thompson, M. E. E., St. Nicholas, Pierremont Avenue, Broadstairs. f City of London School for Girls, Victoria Turner, J. E. UP, Myddelton Square, E. C. [Embankment, E. C. St.!Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Vaux, E. 1Park View, Grosvenor Road, St. Helens, Lancs. Titley, E. M.
Ward, F. *Wardale, E. E., (St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Ph.D. t2, Benet Place, Cambridge. Warner, E. B. f Marks Barn, Hinton St. George, Crewkerne. Old House, Codsall, Wolverhampton. Warington, Mrs., Harpenden, Herts. (R. J. Spackman). *Watson, J. 7, Upper Cheyne Row, S.W. Webb, M. N. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. Yardleys, Kettering. *Weston, M. D. { 16, Hirakawa Cho, Gochome, Kojimachiku, Tokio, Japan. i6, Chalfont Road, Oxford. White, S. A., Auckland School, De la Warr Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. Wigg, M. E. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 118, de Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, S.E. Wiglesworth, H. E., Collegiate School, Maritzburg, South Africa. Willett, G. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 1 The Cedars, Chiselhurst, Kent. Williams, A. M., 19, Carlingford Road, Hampstead Heath, N.W. Williams, E. 124, Walpole Street, Chelsea, S. W. 1Bede House, Stamford. Willson, Mrs. N., Ansgar, Hilperton, Trowbridge. (A. Bond).
Wilson, H. I. f c/o Rev. G. Wilkinson, 51, Upper George St., 1 Bryanston Square. Woodhouse, A. I. f St. Hugh's Hall, Oxford. 1Shrewsbury House, Surbiton. Ivy Cottage, Beeding, Sussex. Woodman, H. Wright, Mrs. C. P. f Chaukpazat Gold Mine, Nankan P.O. (New (A. L. Barker). 1 Valley Railway), Upper Burmah. Wyld, F. M. {Physical Training.College, Dartford. Grittleton Rectory, Chippenham.
Where two addresses are given, the secoed is the permanent home address. The Editor hopes that Members will inform • Denotes life-membership. the Secretary of any change of address. All Subscriptions should be paid at once to the Treasurer and not to the Secretary.
LETTERS AND NOTICES. EDITORIAL. The January number of St. Hugh's Club Paper appears rather late for New Year greetings, but still it must carry with it good wishes to all our members for 1903. We hope the Paper will help to make these wishes more personal than they would otherwise be ; for in addition to that feeling of general friendliness which overtakes us at this time of year, we can add more particular hopes in the case of many St. Hugh's friends, since last year's postcards taught us so much of their doings. It is inevitable that, as time passes, we should lose sight of more and more old students. Our work takes us into many parts of the world, and in most cases demands too much of us to admit of wide correspondence ; so let us hope that the Club may this year succeed still better in holding those together (however slightly) who would otherwise drift entirely apart in spite of those Oxford years of close companionship, to which we all owe much. St. Hugh's has lost one of its truest friends : and not only the Hall as a corporate body, for Mrs. Simon was not one of those whose sympathies were only drawn out by people collectively, but she was a personal friend to each of us who turned to find her friendship. The beautiful and touching words in which Mrs. Green has described for us the more intimate side of her character would perhaps suggest that I should only speak here of the effect on St. Hugh's Hall of Miss Venables' time as vice-Principal. But I cannot think of her there without recalling how soon and how happily the vice-Principal became the close friend, nor can I write of her now without a
sense of personal loss, which adds a poignancy to the recollection of all she did for the Hall at large. Surely no one could have known her at Oxford without being in some way influenced by her neverobscured vision of true education as something far beyond and above the Schools, in spite of the fact that for years she spent herself in the routine of examination preliminaries. And those more recent students who were not personally influenced by her— they too owe her more than they realise, I expect. The Library of St. Hugh's, that centre of Hall life, gained its present character when Miss Venables was our vice-Principal. She entirely reorganised it, rearranged it, added very largely to it by her efforts, and breathed into it the life through which it still grows. The proposal to place some memorial to her there is one which has very largely appealed to those who knew her, and I hope that before our next number appears, some such memorial will have been not unworthily completed. I propose to send out a second batch of postcards before the summer number of this Paper appears, and ask all members who receive them to rise to the occasion as they did last time, and send me news of their doings. I do not send them to those who are abroad, because I hope for something more than a postcard from them, and I thank the members who have gratified these editorial hopes this time. The newly appointed vice-Principal of St. Hugh's Hall is Miss Eleanor Jourdain, late head mistress of the flourishing school for girls at Corran, Watford, and Principal of a College in Paris for
women students working at the Sorbonne. Miss Jourdain will continue to be Head of the latter institution, her presence not being necessary there during the Oxford Terms. Miss Jourdain was a student of Lady Margaret Hall, and one of the first three women to take Honours in the Final School of History at Oxford. She was actually the first woman to undergo viva voce in the Schools. The result was a Second Class. it
gRentariant. (E. cfft.
My personal and special friendship with Ethel Venables, as apart from a natural family affection, began twenty years ago when she was a little girl of nine. She was with me for a time when Mr. Green was lying terribly ill, of his last fatal illness. He was too ill to be left alone, and Ethel was the only person he could bear to have with him when I was by chance called away. I used to see with wonder how patiently she would sit watching till she could be of service, and how in Mr. Green's moments of depression her bright little child's voice would strike in with a story or a little bit of gentle wisdom. I think it was about the same time that her household moved to a new house in London, and Ethel was one day missed early in the morning. She had gone over by herself to the new house and was hard at work there. She would have taken the whole charge on herself rather than see her mother fatigued. Already as a child indeed Ethel shewed the character that distinguished her to the last. She had the same radiant desire to make the happiness or the solace of those about her, and the same gentle tact and bright humour that were the essence of her good sense. It is not enough to say she was unselfish, .for what distinguished her was a very rare and special form of unselfishness. She had not merely the absence of self and self-seeking ; it was rather an extraordinary activity of soul, an outpouring of a rich and abundant life into the life of others, so as to fill them with her life and strength. I have very seldom seen so large a charity. Old and young, rich and poor, fastidious and vulgar, clever and stupid, happy or sorrowful—these distinctions simply did not exist to her. It was enough that there was a living human being whose ardours she could share or whose sorrows she could lighten. Her home life she used too in a way that is as beautiful as it is rare. All her family affections were deep, intense, and before everything else. Her first duties and care were there. Where home feeling is so ardent, it is generally absorbing—in this case the doors of home were not shut, but thrown wide open to the world. She seemed to fall back on her own home, first with her mother, then with her husband, only to fill her heart with more strength and love for all outside. It was to her the store-house where she gathered gifts to carry with her when she went abroad, and to which she returned to bring to it a new blessing, and to heap up new treasures for others. It was by the observation of a warm heart and a clear intelligence that she discovered in her home the deepest lessons the world teaches. She watched a father whom she adored, and from whom she inherited many of her gifts, suffering a long illness with heroic fortitude ; and from his extraordinary
ability and activity of mind she learned never to forget, amid private difficulties and sufferings, the larger life of the world of thought and action outside. His death was a calamity indeed to her, which was used only as a fresh incitement to follow his example. She took her share in the building up in Oxford of a new home of thrift and industry and hospitality. In 1890 she became a member of the Society of Oxford Home-students ; but she was too sensitive and self-distrustful to do herself justice in examinations, and her class in the Schools did not in the least represent the real quality of her mind, or her superior intellectual capacity. With a mind of absolute veracity, that always refused to play tricks with itself or pretend to convictions or conclusions before she had reached them, she had a sound judgment, lively and true perceptions, and an excellent memory. Many of the students who knew her will recall her command of English poetry, with which her mind was so richly stored, and her just poetic judgment and understanding. No doubt some of those who went with her to Iffley will have felt the charm of her companionship, wherever her cultivated observation, her memory and power of comparison, and her sympathy were called out. The summer in which she took her final examination, 1893, she became Assistant Secretary in the Association for the Education of Women to Mrs. Johnson ; and afterwards to Miss Rogers from 1895-7, when she resigned the post. She was also from 1890 to 1899 Secretary to Mrs. Johnson as Principal of the Home Students. Already in 1893 she proved herself so capable that when Mr. and Mrs. Johnson went abroad, she was able to take the charge of business and of letters for both of them. Mrs. Johnson, who had such special opportunity of knowing her well, writes to me : " No one has ever come near her in power of help, of enthusiastic co-operation, and of sympathy. Perhaps the thing that strikes me most, looking at her young girl character, was the remarkable combination of enthusiasm and initiation, of sympathy and sensitiveness, with clear-headed business capacity, and a real genius for tidiness, neatness, and regularity in all her work, and with a memory for detail and remarkable accuracy. There was judgment and tact too, and one was sure that her letters would be written with thought and delicacy of feeling. She helped materially with my students, making friends with them and entertaining them at her own house, and they all felt warmly towards her. Soon after she became my Secretary I had a great sorrow, and an illness. I shall never cease to bless dear Ethel for all the help and loving sympathy she gave me Secretary and Friend and through that time Daughter in one." Ethel used often to talk to me of her work at the Association, and later when she became VicePrincipal of S. Hugh's. It absolutely absorbed her, more indeed than her health could bear, for she was not by any means very strong. Everything that concerned human beings was marvellously alive to her. Day and night the care of the girls was in her heart and thoughts. Every student of S. Hugh's was a separate interest and charge to her heart, not in a pedantic sense, but from her living and abounding desire to see that other life as perfected and rich as possible. Her own existence, and her very real fatigues, were all pushed on one side, forgotten. I well remember the ardour with which she would take me over S. Hugh's and discuss all her schemes for maintaining outward daintiness and charm in the house, gracious manners in the students, and an —
intelligent and diversified life. Every one about her was being gradually pressed into some service for her great cause. Every day she was trying to devise some new scheme for perfecting S. Hugh's, and to the end of her life it lay like a first charge on her heart. Two things were very striking at all times in her temper about work. Devotion to a cause never disturbed her sanity and clear judgment as to its merits or failings ; but where she loved she only saw faults with a gentle comprehension, as blemishes that must soon be cheerfully cleared away. And her entire self-forgetfulness and eagerness to let all credit go anywhere save to herself, often prevented others from seeing the full extent of her efforts, or realizing her self-suppression. It was interesting to see how experience developed in her a sense she had not always professed of the deep importance of grace and charm in woman's life—grace of manner and feeling and talk and outward surroundings, and all that goes to make social intercourse beautiful. She set more value on the " womanly" things every day, and in her own home later she made every day's routine of common things seem always new and fresh by the bright inventiveness, the laughter, the unflagging zeal with which she overcame the difficulties of a young housekeeper. All this zeal was continually brightened by a genuine humour, which never failed her, and made her a delightful companion, just as it made her judgment so sane and intelligent. Her nature was truly and sincerely religious—of the genuine religion that stretches away behind and below creeds and makes a harmony of its own. When a new home came with her husband and little children she carried to it the same sensitive feeling in catching every call of the new duties and meeting them with a gallant and eager heart. Nor did the thought of herself dim for a moment her care for all friends, old and new. I have never seen a braver, more courageous, more loyal or gallant soul. And she met death, at little over 29 years, and after little more than three years of marriage, as bravely and unselfishly as she had faced life—. and went out to the eternal love of which she had been to all who knew her a true messenger here. With what sadness I try in vain to recall in words this vanished personality. There is no means on earth to revive or picture a life that has been taken away, but by the loving memory of those who have themselves seen its beauty. Ethel Simon will live in the pious recollection of the many who loved her, till all love is taken into the Infinite Love and ALICE STOPFORD GREEN. justice. Dec., 1902. The Secretary is glad of this opportunity of telling the members that Miss Day has been so good as to repeat her invitation of last year for the coming Low Sunday. Will those members who are able to accept Miss Day's invitation to lunch be so good as to let the Secretary (B. M. Sparks) know, at the Grey Coat Hospital, some time before Easter Tuesday ? S. Monica's U.M.C.A.,
Zanzibar, 1902. The School in which I am teaching now is a School of little Indian Girls, and as regards numbers, the character and religion of the children and syllabus it is the greatest possible contrast to the School at Magila. I am in the proud position of
being a head-mistress, without even a Council to fetter me. At first though I would gladly have been amenable to the most captious Council in existence, if only school affairs could have been more regular. The attendance entirely depends on the will of the children, for the parents rather discourage their coming than otherwise ; the result is that one day twenty children may turn up and the next only five. Occasionally children are fetched away to be bathed, or to eat their dinner, or to be dressed for a wedding, and one cannot even remonstrate. Many, too, spend two or three hours at the Koran School first, and are only able to come in at half-time. Thus stringent rules about regular and punctual attendance are an impossibility. Moreover, directly a child begins to enjoy coming to the School a Mahomedan Mioalim intervenes and represents to the parent that to read the Koran is the utmost limit of woman education, and the child is forthwith swept off into a Mahomedan School. However, when they do come the children learn very rapidly. They are naturally clever, and Kindergarten methods appeal to them after the discipline of the rod in the Koran School. Of course they are taught Scripture and the three R's, and besides these, English, Nature-knowledge, Drawing, Singing, and Drill. At first they knew nothing but shop and street lore. They thought plants ate porridge and that spiders bought their thread at a shop, now they have a real appreciation of colour and form, and they are quite keen about birds and beasts and fishes, indeed when the whole troup come rushing in with specimens of the huge African snail it is rather hard for the teacher to be duly enthusiastic. They love their Scripture lesson and at present they accept everything with the most childlike faith, and do not realize how incompatible Mahomedanism is with Christianity. One day the parting of the mays will come, and we hope that they will then ask to be received into the Church. Meantime one goes on teaching in faith. I have not even begun to tell of our work in Ngambo where we teach hearers, but already this letter is too long for even a monster German post-card so I must end with apologies. DORA C. ABDY. MY DEAIt OLD STUDENTS,
The editor asks for a letter with stirring news. The most exciting day I can remember this term was that on which Miss Moberly said at lunch that a man from the fire-brigade station was coming to assist us in a fire-escape practice. Of course he came late, and all the nervous people employed the time of waiting in asserting that nothing would induce them to go down the chute. When his preparations were complete, there was an anxious throng collected on the top landing. Miss Eleanor Jourdain, our new V.P., bravely led the way, and showed herself as ready to join with us in this as she has in every other part of the Hall life. It was amusing to see the different rates of descent from the " American rush " to the actual stoppage at the very top, when, instead of anxious people on the ground outside preparing to receive the charge, we had tremendous exertions at the window to get the unfortunate mortal back. Some people took a long farewell of their friends, others dived into space as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world, and even suggested that races, perhaps bumping, should be instituted. For the rest we have taken life very quietly. In hockey we were not beaten until the last Thursday when we succumbed to Lady Margaret. Please
wish us good luck next term ! There has not been much tennis but Miss Hunter, our hockey captain, has been elected to the Twenty Club. In other inter-collegiate matters we have played a very active part with two officers, Secretary and Treasurer, on the O.S.D.S. this term, and a Secretary for next term. We have also helped to swell the bulk of the " Fritillary." This valuable magazine has made a new departure, and offers prizes next term for both prose and poetry. For those who " specialize in general information" a rich and varied feast has been spread this term—Lectures on Music, on Dante, on Gnossus, on Italian Despots, on Social Questions, and, by the Professor of Poetry, on Hegel's Conception of Tragedy. The list suggests a bad attack of mental indigestion, but, to the best of my belief, no one has attempted everything. We were personally interested in the question of Greek and the Responsions. It was an invaluable topic of conversation as most Oxford people were decidedly excited and everyone looked at it from a different point of view, varying from that of a Responsions' examiner of twenty years' standing to that of the lady who " knew no Greek whatever, my dear," but considered that the study must be " very romantic." Besides Greek we talked about the weather, which " The Mag." says " has included portions of an Arctic winter and of the rainy season in Assam," and has unluckily been responsible for influenza which began to demand victims in the critical sixth week of term. We had eight freshers this term, three, including Miss Tew (holder both of the Hall and the Charlotte Yonge Scholarship), have joined the flourishing History School : two, including Miss Eppstein (Clara Evelyn Mordan Scholar), are doing English, and one Science. At present no one is doing Mathematics and no one Classics. We should be very much obliged if some of you would send us up Classical and Mathematical people, especially aspirants to Greats. Our other two freshers were Americans. They had been students at Bryn Mawe, and we have learnt a good deal of American college life which in some respects differs widely from ours, but yet engenders that public spirit which enables its members to take part in corporate life even under different conditions. Just lately they have been practising English expressions to use to their people at home. They introduced us to " fudge parties " • where one makes and eats a glorified toffee, instead of partaking of the inevitable cocoa and Greenwood's biscuits. At the end of term an unexpected American appeared, who came, after wandering' on the continent, to learn English at Oxford because she wants to write. She was greatly astonished to find we had so long a vacation, as she thought that everything went on the whole year round. Did you see that Miss Deneke obtained the Senior Essay Prize in English this year ? It would be rather jolly if S. Hugh's went on getting it indefinitely. When Miss Harington came down to address the public meeting about the Oxford House, she suggested that she should come to us the evening before, as she had done about four years ago. We were very much pleased that she had remembered us and were charmed to see her again. Her stories of " the rowdy bible class which disturbed the games overhead," and of the " ladies who attended S. Margaret's House dramatic classes as a substitute for a place of worship " showed that the work had developed, and that new.difficulties had arisen since last we heard her.
Miss Weston (S. H. H.) came one day to talk of her work in Japan, and told us many interesting details about her educational experiences out there ; it is commonly said that schoolmistresses dress badly, but the Japanese fashion is lovely. Miss Moberly talked about Buddhism on Sunday evenings this term ; she first went into the date and authenticity of the Buddhist Scriptures, then into the actual story and doctrine, and compared them with Christianity, and discussed the alleged coincidences and Edwin Arnold's " Light of Asia." Some memorial of Mrs. Simon's work among us has been proposed. Every one seems to think that the best form for it to take would be a gift to the Library, and the present suggestion is that we should get the whole of the Dictionary of National Biography which is very much needed and would be of general use. We have had very lively " Sharp Practices " this term, under the dignified presidency of Miss Hales ; the most exciting one was after our match with you when the new tendency td prolong the discussion indefinitely was very apparent. It may interest you to know that the tea-pots have been replaced by a tea-urn, which serves to lighten the arduous duty of " cups," and obviates the necessity of ringing for a third tea-pot on hockey days. On the last night of term, many important and distinguished strangers of all ages made their appearance in the Hall ; a majestic lady who called herself the Japanese Alliance was seen conversing with Alfred the Great, his jewel, kindly lent for the occasion, flashing on his forehead. Little Lord Fauntleroy was heard asking Romeo whether Juliet was his " Dearest ": while Undine kindly dispensed coffee and officious friends introduced the Maid of all work to the (K)night of the bath. Altogether the fancy-dress sociable was a gorgeous success— we all agreed it was a fitting climax to a very jolly term. With all good wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. M. M. CRicx, Senior Student. 16, Chalfont Road, Oxford. DEAR
SECRETARY,
" To the best of my belief" your p.c. had not reached me when I left Tokyo, July 29th, 19oz. May I plead for space in the coming number of the Club Paper—more than p.c. space—for Tokyo and our work there ? I have not the power of making material magic lantern slides, much less mental magic lantern slides. But I will subjoin a list of subjects for those who have, so that you may have some idea of Tokyo and its population of nearly two millions and make slides for yourselves. In the centre of the city there is the beautiful old moat with its high banks and fir trees surrounding the Imperial Palace and shutting it off from the city rush though not from State business, and, not far from that the splendid buildings of the Law Courts (Western in architecture), and, more or less near to one another, the official residences of the Ministers of State. In other parts of the city there would be all manner of public institutions, the hospitals, the Imperial University, the Higher Normal Schools and a large number of schools of various grades for girls as well as boys, one and all (with the exception of the Christian Mission Institutions) entirely under Japanese control and management though Western
in regime. Among the Girls' Schools I must plead that special care be taken with the handsome red brick buildings of the Peeresses' School, its group of nearly fifty teachers—in which I figure as the teacher of English in the six upper forms—and also with its group of twenty-eight girls who graduated last July at an average age of eighteen. You would be fortunate if, as a subject for one slide, you could reach some one of the broad roads in the city cleared of traffic and lined with people with bent heads watching (!) the passing of the Emperor to some Military Review or University function, or for the passing of the Empress on her way to visit the patients in the Red Cross Hospital or to watch the Athletic Sports of the Peeresses' School. A modern Japanese " model villa" must not be missed out. There may or may not be a foreign annex to it, or some Japanese rooms furnished in foreign style. There will of course be rooms in real Japanese style—rooms void of extraneous furniture such as chairs and brit a brat, but beautiful in their spaciousness, in their wood carved panels, in the suggestive thoughts of the picture and of the flower arrangement, and in the exquisiteness imparted to the whole by the individual care or at least surveillance of the mistress of the house. There at to a.m. you would probably find a small group of Japanese women sitting on cushions on the floor round the " Nibachi" (charcoal fire brazier) discussing the affairs of the Women's " Education Society," " Reading Club" (see below), " Hygienic Society," or " Patriotic Society." You might be startled in these surroundings to hear the ring of the telephone, and to find that electric bells and electric light were in use all over the house. I am afraid this list method must be exhausting. To rest you may I suggest that you step into a jinrikisha where at least you will be alone for a time and afterwards have change of company, for you shall be landed at the Bishop's house, and you shall be fortunate enough to find both the Bishop and Mrs. Awdry (Miss Moberly's sister) at home. Mr. Imai will in all likelihood be there discussing with the Bishop how to meet the new demand of the Post Office officials for teachers of Christianity and English for the Post Office men, teachers such as they have learnt to value for the police service. For it is widely acknowledged that Christianity is the best moral lever and the best former of character. During the evening you will hear all manner of interesting mission news, such as that six men have just offered themselves as candidates for Ordination, and much consideration of various problems of the South Tokyo Diocese as well as of those that came up in the last general synod of the Japanese branch of the Catholic Church, now divided into six dioceses. " Forty millions of people and six Bishops 1 " is your abrupt exclamation, and the long but edifying answer is " Yes, only six, two American, two S.P.G., and two C.M.S. Bishops, and yet that is by no means the most pressing question with us, in fact it is not a question at all at present I The question is how to get men and women workers to stir up, to awaken more of these 4o,000,000 to aspiration after Divine Truth, and to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the useful if somewhat inadequate view of Christianity held in some quarters, that its morality makes for safety in progress, and is desirable therefore from a purely material standpoint. The fact is we are here among a people who have indeed "made a record" in the history of the world. They have achieved such extraordinary success in their ventures in all manner of directions. Is it any
wonder that they do not at present realise their need of God ? Is it any wonder that our minds are constantly exercised as to how to reach them, and more and more convinced of the responsibility of the Western Church to make superhuman efforts to lead them to the Highest, since they now share with our Western World its modern material progress and along with it, it must be frankly owned, are beginning to share its vices and its crying materialism ?" So energetic did the conversation of the evening become that it forced itself into this paper. However, we are bent on business, so I call in for you the next morning, Sunday morning, after the 7 o'clock Japanese Celebration, to introduce you to S. Andrew's, the Church we attend ; not, however, to that Church because we attend it, but because it is the pro-Cathedral of the South Tokyo diocese. Entering just on the stroke of nine we find the little Church packed, and anxiety depicted on the faces of Japanese and foreign workers who fear lest there will be no room for the later members of their respective flocks. The choir and clergy enter. Mr. Yamada (a Japanese priest) reads the service with a reverent and responding congregation ; Mr. Imai (the Japanese priest-in-charge) reads the lessons, admits some one or more catechumens and, in his sermon, leads his people's thoughts through and away from some native religious rite to the Christian truth it foreshadows. Greatly impressed, though having understood nothing, you will on our return to Hirakawa Cho, I venture to assert, demand a good talk and beset me with many questions. To condense matters I will suggest another set of subjects for your slide-making genius. Let us plunge into the Evangelistic work first, and choose two from among the many Bible Classes in our hands—the one, the class in a Japanese lady's house of candidates for Holy Baptism, all keenly interested and earnest, and some almost gasping at the demands made by the "new Christian commandment" of love; the other, one of the classes in our own house for school-girls, from among whom one will be admitted as Catechumen on the following Sunday. Then two scenes from the monthly meeting of the Charity Society. The first shall be the gathering in the Japanese rooms in our house, where all the members are busy knitting or sewing while listening to Mrs. Ushioda, a Japanese Presbyterian, who by the request of the Committee is giving an account of the terrible hardships of the women and girls in the weaving factories, and of the home she is starting to save some at least from that sad life and to train them for domestic service. The second shall be the subsequent meeting of the Committee at the moment of their passing two resolutions : r. That this Society invite twenty of the distressed factory girls to a Christmas Tree party, and that some useful gifts made by the members shall be distributed on the occasion. z. That Mr. Imai be asked to give an account at the next meeting of the poor and overcrowded district with which he has particular acquaintance. And one more scene and a very domestic one. Our breakfast table on some National Holiday in term time at 7.3o, three-quarters of an hour later than usual. A gentle hum of conversation, not all English, not all Japanese ! on plans for the day. Miss Parker (my substitute), Miss Hasegawa, Miss Amolo, Miss Okada, the four workers ; Miss Horinchi, Miss Hojo, Miss Takeda ; grown-up students of English ; Miss Satoro, Miss Mursta, Miss Ishijima and Miss Sakurai ; schoolgirls, and Hanzo, our boy of nearly seven. As you can imagine, the plans
are very varied ; some think the Museum would be the most improving, some a quiet day at home with the needle the wisest, some a visit to a friend the pleasantest, some the Zoological Gardens the greatest fun, and some one or two have so many things they want to do that they have no "mind" at all yet. " Just the time for a phonograph but for want of that a camera," do I hear some one say? Alas, though we highly disapprove of dark or dingy rooms for anything, we are obliged to use this dark room as our dining-room till we can get a better. Some members of the Club will remember moving in to the new dining-room at the Hall and spreading into new studies. We must hope for a like pleasure for our Hostel. Indeed so inconvenient and inadequate is our present abode for the dimensions to which our work has grown, that my first duty on reaching England in September was to plead for land and buildings of our own in place of the rented house in which we now live. This letter will be found in " Women in the Mission Field " for December, 1902. May I urge that more members of S.H.H.C. indulge in this penny monthly magazine of the Women's Mission Association. In case there are any who do not clearly understand the position of the W.M.A., may I explain that it is the Society which provides women and funds for the women's work done among women under S.P.G. clergy. The S.P.G. itself provides neither women nor funds for this work. To sum up, the W.M.A. work in which I am engaged in Tokyo may be classified under four heads: Hostel work, Educational work in Schools and in our own house for our private day pupils, general work and definite Evangelistic work. The Hostel is of course the very best means one could have, for, in addition to the actual teaching, it supplies a Christian atmosphere and constant contact with things Christian. The Educational work brings us into contact with many, and gives us a chance of influencing some among them at least to think of the claims of God upon them. By the general work I mean such work as the Charity Society and the Reading Club. The Charity Society was inaugurated by me and I am its President, but it works through its Committee which is almost entirely Japanese. Christianity, as I said before, is greatly respected as a moral lever for raising the lower classes and its charity work is much respected. We hope therefore through our influence in this Society to find channels for the spread of the Faith as well as to give help in philanthropic movements, which though so new are so warmly entered into by Japanese women. The Women's Reading and Library Club, which we have been the means of getting started, we look to not only as a means for raising the intellectual life of wives and mothers, but also for stirring their spiritual desires. But for all this work and these splendid opportunities opening before us we must have an increase in our staff. Two new workers to go out with me next autumn is what I am seeking for now. Can any member of the Club help me at all in this matter ? I am inclined to think that in considering "vocation" many put the Missionary one aside as impossible " because no funds are attached to it." There are funds attached to it. Of course persons who have independent means are a great help to the Mission, but those without means can give work. The greatness of this vocation is another deterrent cause perhaps, but on the other hand there is much to be said for the duty of obeying fearlessly. I do hope my dream may be realised, and that S.H.H.C. may send some one to join me. If that is
not possible at the moment can it not energize so far as to find some one outside the Club as a substitute ? M. D. WESTON. The Crown Agents' Office, Downing Street, S.W., December 3rd, 1902. DEAR EDITOR, You ask for an account of my " interesting work at the Crown Agency Office." Interesting ? It is a matter of opinion, but to the point. We are seven ladies, of uncertain age (for as one of them remarked, " We never talk about ages ") in the Correspondence Department, we are fond of referring to ourselves as the " Crown Agents' Jewels." I expect most people know the Crown Agents' Office joining the Colonial Office in Downing Street and overlooking Parliament Street. Here is transacted all the business of our Crown Colonies, and also of the East and West AfAcan Frontier Forces, South African Constabulary, and Uganda Railway Committee. The Colonies cable and write their many wants, and the Crown Agents do their best to supply them. So many and varied are these demands that it is difficult to give an idea of them, now it is loo pianos for schools in S. Africa, a new issue of stamps for Trinidad, or even costumes for raving lunatics on the Gold Coast. Occasionally there are some quaint personal letters, etc., etc.; on one point we are all agreed that no " plum " shall be lost to the room. But to return to the " Jewels." We arrive at 10, and sign our names each day on a beautiful printed sheet and then proceed to work, which grows with the day and swamps us in the late afternoon. Our first task is to open the Crown Agents' letters, dividing them and carefully pinning up the enclosures to catch the eye of the busy men, and woe betide us if there are any mistakes here. Vast piles of letters have to be got through at great speed for they are wanted at once. The rest of the day is taken up with typewriting, shorthand, indexing letters and telegrams, sorting and franking letters and keeping the postal accounts of the various Colonies, and wonderful are the possibilities in the way of careless mistakes ! There are three men in our Department who are responsible for all such errors, etc., etc. Then, too, we get a glimpse of many public functions, such as the Coronation, Review of the Horse Guards, and, still more interesting, the visit of Lord Kitchener and the Boer Generals to the Colonial Office. In a mad rush downstairs for this sight a tall blue-eyed man was nearly upset by a fair lady clerk, who returned and sadly declared she had missed the Hero. But she was soon consoled, for surely to have collided was more glorious than merely to have seen. Another lady leapt into the tea-lift (not made for mortals) at the invitation of one of the old messengers, and proudly returned having had a full view of Kitchener's legs quite up to the knee. So you see we have our compensations, and chief among these may be ranked life in the centre of everything, long evenings of leisure, increasing rather than decreasing market value, and lastly, having lost hair, teeth and eyesight in the Government's service, there looms in the distance a possible pension. With many apologies for such a dull lengthy Yours very sincerely, letter, MIRIAM LANGSTON.
Receipts. I go 1-1902. s. d.
Balance in hand Annual Subscriptions Life Subscriptions
16 6 9 0 3 10 0
2 1
ÂŁ7 5 6
Expenses. 1901 — 1902. s. d.
Secretary Club Paper, July, 190 1 Feb., 1 9o2 )7 ff
Secretary
J uly, 1902
2 15 0 300 4. 16 ti
411 3 3
The Committee are desirous of drawing the attention of all members to the fact that there is a deficit in the accounts for the year 1901-2. This has arisen because hitherto the bill for the July Club Paper has not been paid in the current year. This year the number of members who have paid Life Subscriptions has greatly increased ; but in the past, and even now, all Life Subscriptions have been merged into current expenses instead of forming a Reserve Fund, as the Committee feel should be the case. It is felt that it is most desirable that all members should be acquainted with the real position of affairs, as the Committee are anxious if possible to avoid a deficit for the future. The Treasurer takes this opportunity of reminding members that all subscriptions were clue on October 1, 1902, and that they will be acknowledged at once by receipt.