74 THE UNIVERSITY AND WOMEN'S WORK 



towards supplying in schools some rudimentary knowledge of 

 the domestic arts and the simple laws of hygiene. No one, 

 I think, will contend that a solution of the difficulty is to be 

 found here in general education in the three R's, and it is in 

 supplying special teachers for children in elementary schools 

 that schools of domestic economy have found their chief work. 



When we pass from the poorer classes to the more fortunate 

 sections of the community it is not so easy to disclose the 

 ignorance that prevails or trace its consequences. Of its 

 existence and of its far-reaching effect on the well-being of the 

 nation I have not a shadow of doubt. The subject is not an 

 easy or a pleasant one to talk about, and it will probably be 

 most prudent if I do not enlarge upon it. I can only say 

 that it astonishes me more and more as my experience of 

 life increases, to see how complacently people endure in their 

 homes the inconveniences, the perils, and even the tragedies of 

 life that accrue not from faults of the heart, but from crass 

 ignorance ignorance that would have been remedied long ago 

 if we had not got our ideas of education so absurdly out of 

 focus with the things that matter most. It is, I am sure, not 

 extravagant to say that there is no sphere of human activity 

 where the responsibilities are greater, the issues more vital, 

 and where, accordingly, we are more bound to bring all the 

 resources that intellect can supply. By so doing we may 

 hope to strengthen the power of right thinking and right 

 doing, to emancipate people from the rule of thumb and of 

 recipe, the spurious traditions and the mischievous credulity, 

 that have gained such an extraordinary sway in the domestic 

 world, and to bring about an economy of life, labour, time, and 

 money. 



I believe there was never more need than now for most 

 earnest attention being given to this business of administering 

 a home and of making it one that .may appeal to the intellect 

 as well as the heart. A highly educated woman surely need 



