Teachings of Thomas Huxley 41 



respect others as himself." Such a text should 

 prove far-reaching enough for the most ambi- 

 tious, yet it is scarcely unattainable even for 

 those born under the most adverse conditions. 

 The mind has no limit in the attainment of 

 things knowable save its disruption from ill- 

 use, which is much less likely than disruption 

 from ill-use of the physical being. 



But the securing of a liberal education need 

 not be entirelv confined to men. In a letter 

 to Sir Charles Lyell, Huxley declares that it 

 is far from him to place any obstacle in the 

 way of women who by endowment and energy 

 are capable of making good use of their edu- 

 cation in the world of ideas. He gave to his 

 daughters the same training in physical sci- 

 ences as their brothers received, with the ex- 

 pressed hope that other people would do like- 

 wise; and in this way the next generation 

 would find women fit to be the companions of 

 men in all their pursuits. "But," he adds, 

 "I don't think men have anything to fear from 

 their competition." 



The higher education of women has become 

 a fixed thing in this country, and some very 

 excellent work in science, literature, and peda- 



fogics, for example, has been done by them, 

 ust how far this should be carried is in open 

 dispute, for there are those who would set lim- 

 its to the extent to which women should invade 

 professional and commercial fields. There is 



