286 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



TO THE STUDENTS OF RADCLIFFE COLLEGE 



Rome, December 11, 1894 



MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS: Far away as I am from 

 Radcliffe College you are often in my thoughts. I see 

 you at your work, in your Clubs, in your social gath- 

 erings and especially at the Wednesday teas, where I 

 long to join you and to share in the talk that goes on 

 around the tables. Could I be transported there, I 

 should have much to tell you of the old story of which 

 these ancient cities speak to us still, bringing the past 

 so near that it sometimes seems more vivid than the 

 present. Of course we all know the facts, or a great 

 part of them, but to be on the spot makes our dry 

 knowledge a living reality. I felt this in Paris, where 

 the new is lost in the old (at least, it was so to me), 

 and still more here, where the dead ruins make the 

 life of the city. 



But I did not mean to talk to you of myself and 

 of what I am seeing and enjoying, but rather of the 

 pleasure I have in hearing that all goes well with 

 Radcliffe and its students. This year seems to me of 

 greater importance in the history of our college than 

 any preceding one except the first. That was the ini- 

 tiative step in what was really a far-reaching under- 

 taking, though at the moment it seemed hardly more 

 than a doubtful experiment; this year marks the con- 

 clusion of that period and the opening of one which 

 rests on a sure foundation. 



I am confident that you all appreciate this new 

 aspect of our undertaking and will help the officers of 



