402 AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT -VII 



with its lady warden who served as guide, philosopher, and 

 friend, were all the result of a deep conspiracy against the 

 rights of women. Again and again a committee of them 

 came to me, insisting that young women should be treated 

 exactly like young men ; that there should be no lady war- 

 den ; that every one of them should be free to go and come 

 from Sage College at every hour in the twenty-four, as 

 young men were free to go and come from their dormi- 

 tories. My answer was that the cases were not the same ; 

 that when young women insisted on their right to come and 

 go at all times of the day and night, as they saw fit, without 

 permission, it was like their right to walk from the campus 

 to the beautiful point opposite us on the lake : the right they 

 undoubtedly had, but insurmountable obstacles were in the 

 way; and I showed them that a firm public opinion was 

 an invincible barrier to the liberties they claimed. Still, 

 they were allowed advisory powers in the management of 

 the college; the great majority made wise use of this 

 right, and all difficulty was gradually overcome. 



Closely connected with the erection of Sage College was 

 the establishment of Sage Chapel. From the first I had 

 desired to have every working-day begun with a simple 

 religious service at which attendance should be voluntary, 

 and was glad to see that in the cheerless lecture-room 

 where this service was held there usually assembled a 

 goodly number of professors and students, in spite of the 

 early hour and long walk from town. But for Sunday 

 there was no provision ; and one day, on my discussing the 

 matter with Mr. Sage, he said that he would be glad to es- 

 tablish a chapel on the university grounds for the general 

 use of professors and students, if I saw no objection. This 

 proposal I heartily welcomed, but on two conditions : first, 

 that the chapel should never be delivered over to any one 

 sect; secondly, that students should be attracted, but not 

 coerced into it. To these conditions Mr. Sage agreed, and 

 the building was erected. 



As it approached completion there came a proposal 

 which opened a new era in our university life. Mr. Dean 



