supposed to be educated, who are neither one thing nor another, and are good for nothing for themselves or the world. In popular phrase, "they have got just learning enough to spoil them." They are neither intellectual, nor skillful and industrious; neither scholars nor artizans. They hate and despise labor; they do not love their books. They cannot live by their learning or their wits; they will not work. But there was no institution of learning for the higher education of woman-none that offered to young ladies anything like the advantages of our best colleges for young men, in all the land, and, so far as we know, in the world. Of the schools named, and others of a similar character, not one came up to the desired standard; not one was fully endowed and incorporated, with the means of perpetuating its own existence and usefulness, The time was when many such came forth from unless, possibly, we except Bradford Academy. our schools, drones and inefficients, a burden to society, a disgrace to their parents, and a reproach to the very name of learning. Unfortunately there are too many such still, as all who observe carefully are aware. This it is that has brought our schools and learning, so called, into great disrepute among the sober, sensible, and industrious classes, particularly among the farmers. Besides, the expense of extending them was too great for the means of those who most desired and would best use their advantages. It was this surface training of most female institutions, the evils they entailed, and the reproach they brought upon the name of all learning, the almost utter lack of good schools of any kind, the great expense of attending such as existed, and the want of an institution of a higher order, that led to the founding of MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY, at South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the grand pioneer institution that struck for the higher and better culture of woman, and ultimately the equal It was a beautiful, strong, and immovable bridge connecting the two eras in female education-no learning, or sham boardingschools on the one hand, and thorough, extensive training by rational and practical methods, on the other. That bridge will prove more noble and enduring, and more important and beneficent in its results, than the one of iron that spans Niagara and connects the two peoples of Canada and the United States. So, too, our shrewd business men, and our most prudent and thoughtful citizens have come to look upon it in much the same light, and to regard all schools not known to be thorough and practical in their cast, with distrust. They have often seen that self-made men-persons of a small modicum of | education of the sexes. applied knowledge-have carved out success and risen to distinction and power, leaving the seminary and college graduates far in the shade. But this superficiality-this sham learning-has been most noticeable and prevalent in the female schools of the country. SOPHIA SMITH, THE FOUNDRESS OF THE COLLEGE. Fifty and seventy-five years ago it was far more general than at present. About that time Mrs. Willard's Seminary, at Troy; the Hartford Female Seminary, kept, if we mistake not, by Catherine Beecher; Bradford Academy, Massachusetts; and the Ipswich Academy, and some others were established, in which the solid branches were given more nearly their proper place, and the right moulding of character and teaching of good manners made prominent features. This Institution, though it was called by the name of "Seminary," and started with a course of study but a little more extensive than several of our best female schools, was intended from the outset as a forward step-as a school based upon a progressive plan, in which the standard was to be raised as often as the needs of the sex and the exigency of the times should make a change graduates, on the principle that "a tree is known necessary or expedient. Its founder ever held up the idea that the standard of scholarship was to be an advancing one, with "Excelsior" inscribed upon every department; and the system of instruction and management was to be so flexible as to keep pace with the course of events, the growth of our country, and the wants of the age. The best comment upon by its fruits," and that the achieved fact-the doing of a thing-is far better than empty assertion and high claims, we repeat, that it would be difficult to prove the contrary. It has been our fortune to meet and know the graduates of Holyoke in various situations and under all circumstances, and to see much of the Institution itself; and we do not recall one, in all this is the fact that the requirements for entering and the number of studies in the curriculum have been several times increased, both while its founder was living and since her death. As further evidence of the steady growth, the continued advances of this Institution, and the progressive principle on which it was founded, we state the important fact that it has added a whole year to its course of study, with the corresponding increase in the number of classes-more than doubled its capacity for students, and added the beautiful Art Gallery (which constitutes the frontispiece of this article and number), with that growth in scientific taste and studies which made it necessary. It is claimed by the friends of this school that, though not technically called "a college," its four years' course of study and thorough mental discipline, in addition to what is possessed by the pupils at entering, are substantially equivalent to what is furnished in the best colleges of the country, male or female. Trying this assertion by the evidence seen on every hand, in its numerous and accomplished VIEW OF THE COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON AND this number, that was lacking in mental discipline. and thorough scholarship, in the best traits of educated female character, in personal good manners, and in all those substantial, womanly virtues and graces that are really worth having in life. We are aware that this is high praise, and that there may have been faults which we did not see; and there may have been exceptions which we have not known. We wish we could say as much of the graduates of other institutions, including the colleges, and not excepting our own Alma Mater. But, to tell the truth, not a few of these have come forth from the classic halls not much wiser or better for their passage through them, though all their bills were honorably paid. It is sometimes said of such that "They must go through college the second time before they become scholars." Evidently they should have studied more severely, or staid longer. Such may have mistaken their vocation. MOUNT HOLYOKE IN THE DISTANCE-AS SEEN FROM LAKE PARADISE. It is certain they did not drink deeply at the fountain of knowledge, nor do much credit to the institution with which they had a nominal connection for four years. "By their fruits ye shall know them ;" and from the products we know what the materials were, and what the processes must be through which they have passed. Tried by its products-its fruits, Mount Holyoke Seminary has never been found wanting. What must be the foundation of such an outgrowth? What the secret of such decided and desirable results? Who and what kind of a person could it be who originated an institution so fitted to bless the world-so fruitful of good? It was founded, as all the world knows, or ought to know, by MARY LYON, one of the most remarkable women of this country, and of the nineteenth century. It was reared by her great faith in man, and unlimited trust in God. Into every fibre of its warp and woof she wrought her own mind and heart. Every brick placed in its walls speaks of her labors and self-denials, and of the liberality of the generous donors. Here, within these prayerconsecrated precincts, so grateful and sacred to her mind, for twelve years she garnered the rich treasures of her incomparable instruction into many willing minds and hearts, to be used and repro duced again and again by teachers and pupils; and here, in after years, the very fragments left from the rich feasts of her teachings, have been religiously gathered up by her loving and grateful pupils and preserved as precious heirlooms of the institution. Briefly, the thread of her useful life ran thus: Born in 1797, in the remote mountain town of Buckland, Franklin County, Massachusetts, of parents posseesing deep piety and but little wealth, except in the rich treasure of such a daughter; early manifesting an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, studying, reading, and hearing whatever would feed the flame and increase her mental stores; exhausting the resources of the schools and academies in her own and neighboring towns; making her way by teaching, working for her board, and gaining friends by her great worth, efforts and progress, who helped her along; and finally joining herself to the school of Rev. Joseph Emerson, at Byfield, near Boston, a man who, in goodness and true wisdom, and especially faith in the capacity of woman, and her right to, and need of a higher education, was greatly in advance of his age. To him, Miss Lyon was indebted for the germ of many of her best things, and she was wont to make frequent reference to his views and teachings, as she incorporated them into her institution REAR VIEW OF COLLEGE BUILDING. and system of teaching, giving due credit to their honored source. She was a most successful and acceptable teacher for over twenty years-much of the time with her life-long friend, Miss Grant, afterwards Mrs. Banister, in her native town of Buckland, at Derry (now Manchester), New Hampshire, and at Ipswich, Massachusetts-before her great work in establishing and conducting with such remarkable success, the Mount Holyoke Seminary. All this was a preparatory school for the greater undertaking the crowning work of her life. Her success in founding the Seminary was something wonderful, and will never cease to excite admiration. In 1834 she commenced taking subscriptions at Ipswich among her pupils and their friends. She thus gathered a thousand dollars, which she prized more than any equal sum she ever obtained, around which the rest of her funds crystallized. She then went before the larger public, and in two years had secured enough pledges to warrant laying the cornerstone. In one year more the noble edifice was erected and finished; and on the 8th of November, 1837, she opened with eighty pupils, under those favorable auspices and heavenly benedictions that have ever since rested upon this excellent and most successful institution-the pioneer school in the new era of "The higher education of woman." The celerity and success of Miss Lyon's efforts would justify the application of Cæsar's celebrated expression respecting himself: "Veni, vidi, vici." She was at the ripe age of forty, when she opened her seminary, and after conducting it some twelve years as teacher and principal, left the scene of her earthly labors March 5th, 1849. On a gentle swell of ground, just back of the Holyoke Seminary, there is a slight artificial mound, from which ascends a modest shaft of marble pointing heavenward, not ambitiously but surely, into whose upper glories Mary Lyon has entered, enjoying those ecstatic and ever-increasing delights that are the reward of a useful, consecrated and unselfish life. On this simple monument, among others, is the appropriate inscription, quoted from her own words to her pupils, and beautifully characteristic of the woman: "THERE IS NOTHING IN THE UNIVERSE THAT I FEAR, BUT THAT I SHALL NOT KNOW ALL MY DUTY, OR SHALL FAIL TO DO IT;" words worthy of the greatest and best of either sex who have blessed the world by their deeds of beneficence, including even Paul himself. Yet the monument of the great and good woman whose remains repose in this quiet mound, is not the tiny shaft that stands over her grave, but yonder noble edifice, the outward repository of MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY, surrounded not merely with a fence of iron, but hedged in by the protecting care and overshadowing presence of INTERIOR OF THE ART GALLERY. HIM who inspired her to found it. This is the fitting monument of Mary Lyon, and its yearly graduates the living record of her works; while the hearts of her reverent and loving pupils, and the thousands they shall have taught, are the shrine in which her memory will be sacredly cherished for ages to come. Having occupied so much space respecting the general features of this Seminary, and in our too brief sketch of Miss Lyon, we can only touch upon. a few of its leading characteristics, particularly those of most importance, or that are most frequently misunderstood. Many suppose that domestic economy is taught here. This is a mistake. It is left entirely with their mothers at home, except what is acquired incidentally. The young ladies are required to take care of their own rooms, and to aid in the culinary department or other domestic work, about one hour per day, more or less. The part assigned them is adapted to their age, strength, and skill, and is regarded by most of the students as a pleasure rather than a task. Its leading objects were, and still are, to lessen the expenses; to prevent the annoyances connected with the employment of help, and thus, among other things, to exclude outside intermeddling, 'which might easily enter through the kitchen door; to afford regular and healthful exercise; to cultivate the habit both of self-reliance and self-respect, and a feeling of mutual dependence, by thus doing learning, but in genuine Christian culture, combining thorough mental discipline, profound study, and extensive acquirements, grounded upon a deep and earnest religious faith. She did not, however, believe in taking great pains in polishing and preserving the casket, and then casting away or exposing the jewel, as is too often the case. Perhaps we can best illustrate this by referring to the plan for curing physical ills in vogue with Dr. Foster, at the celebrated Institution of "Clifton Springs," Western New York. His first step is to persuade the patients to be reconciled in mind and heart to God, and thus be brought into their normal relations to the Creator of their bodies as well as souls and so to get the three natures or partsphysical, mental, and spiritual -to act in harmony. Proceeding upon this theory, many wonderful cures have been effected, seemingly, little less than miraculous. Upon a similar principle, Miss Lyon not only believed that reconciliation and peace with God was necessary for the highest usefulness, and for happiness in this life and especially in that to come, but that the highest attainments, the most complete and harmonious deprofound mental culture, were only possible with the true Christian, where the mind and heart and the best physical powers all work in harmony together. This is the principle upon which the school has ever been conducted. It is the key-note and leading feature to-day. Though decidedly religious, it is entirely nonsectarian, having five denominations among its present teachers. ENTRANCE, IN MAIN BUILDING, TO STAIRCASE. their own work and working together; and inci- | velopment and Though a person care nothing for religion he cannot help admiring the type of character and the excellent scholarship they turn out at South Hadley. For it will be borne in mind that this Seminary, though decidedly religious, does not teach abstract doctrines merely, or the empty platitudes of a sentimental religion. Its religion And this leads us to speak of the religious fea- is one of good works as well as of doctrines-of ture of the school. We have already incidentally truth rendered into the concrete. This kind of alluded to it. goodness mankind do not oppose; on the contrary Mary Lyon believed neither in Pagan nor Infidel they even receive it with favor, though a Brahmin |