special provision for candidates who had already been engaged in teaching, but who wished to qualify themselves for higher positions by advanced work in one or more particular directions. Such persons were received from the beginning with marked favor; but in 1878 they were organized into a department into which they have been received ever since that time without examination. This is, however, in no sense a normal department; and there never has been any such at Wellesley. The young women in question were allowed simply to elect their own lines of study from the regular curriculum (subject to the approval of the faculty, which was required for all the students), without regard to the limitations of arrangement in the collegiate course. These earnest women, usually older in years and more mature in character than the rest, have formed always one of the most valuable and respected elements in the institution; but the rapid increase in the number of applicants made their accommodation for some time a constantly growing problem. At last, in 1879, came the gift from Mr. C. B. Dana of a large boarding house in the village of Wellesley. It was christened Dana Hall, and was used for the next 2 years as a home for the teacher specials, as they were called, thus relieving the pressure at headquarters. In the mean time the trustees were rejoicing over the receipt of $100,000 from Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, of Malden, for an additional building. It was to be called Stone Hall, and to be put to such uses as, in the judgment of the trustees, the needs of the college should require. But it was always to be considered as "sacredly consecrated to the promotion of a truly Christian education, and the development of Christian character and life." Stone Hall was erected in 1880 on a commanding hill in the college grounds. It was opened in 1881, and has been used largely for the teacher-specials, accommodating about a hundred persons. It also afforded a welcome opportunity to provide more space for the department of botany, which had been much cramped up to that time. All the instruction in this department is now given at Stone Hall, where it has a large laboratory for the work in morphology, besides two smaller ones for more advanced study, and a fourth for the preparation of specimens. It has a fine illustrative collection, besides its excellent equipment of microscopes and other apparatus.

Aside from the classes of students already described, Wellesley has always had more or less special students who have not been teachers. Young women of this class, however, receive very little encouragement, and their number is constantly lessening under the pressure of applications from candidates for the regular course, to whom, with the teacherspecials, the preference is given.

A few other points should be noted in the earlier history of the college. One of these is the establishment in 1877 of the board of visitors, consisting of persons not otherwise connected with the institution, but usually eminent in educational matters, who aid the trustees by examining from time to time the methods of government and instruc

tion, and making recommendation thereupon. Their number has since been fixed at 20. Some of the truest benefactors of the college have served it in this capacity. Preeminent among them is the president of the board, Prof. E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge. A devoted friend of the founders, he has been second only to them in his contributions to Wellesley's material prosperity, while he has conferred many benefits upon the faculty and students which only a rare and thoughtful kind ness could have conceived. Several of the trustees also have first been members of the board of visitors.

A second point is the formation of the Students' Aid Society, with Mrs. Durant as treasurer, in 1878. This is an organization of ladies, whose object is to help poor and deserving young women to pursue their education at Wellesley by loans or gifts of money. It has met with much success, and the fact that one-third of all its loans has been returned already is a proof of its wisdom in the choice of recipients. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that the college owes much of its finest scholarship and noblest Christian character to the magic wand of this society.

Another means of giving aid was the establishment in 1878–79 of the Teachers' Registry. All Wellesley students in good standing, who wish to secure places as teachers, are allowed free of charge to register their names, qualifications, and preferences. These are kept with care, and consulted by persons seeking instructors for a great variety of posi tions. The arrangement is invaluable to the alumnæ and teacherspecials.

The first period of the crowded history of Wellesley College ends with Mr. Durant's death in October, 1881. It remains to speak of his unique attitude towards the institution during that time. First, it can not be too distinctly stated that his purpose in founding and guiding it was absolutely unselfish. "The college belongs to God," he said, "not to me." It was to be in no sense a monument to himself. His name does not appear in its charter. He would not allow it to be called after him, nor would he even permit a picture or bust of himself to be placed in one of its public rooms. The only office which he assumed in connection with it was that of treasurer of the board of trustees. Yet he was its real executive head. He gave up to it all the last years of his life. He identified himself with all its interests-intellectual, religions, domestic, financial. He watched over the daily life of its faculty and students with a fatherly enthusiasm that never tired. The personal affection of Mr. and Mrs. Durant has resulted, especially among the earlier alumnæ of Wellesley, in a sense of daughterhood to the college that we believe to be stronger and more genuine than that usually felt by the graduates of similar institutions, and the ideal of the founders, enforced by their eloquent words and sincere example, receives increasing allegiance as the ideal of the growing college. At Mr. Durant's death his place on the board of trustees fell to Mrs. Durant, who there

after assumed, with an increased devotion and an ability which can hardly be exaggerated, her husband's duties there as well as her own. Like him in modesty, she stands in the background of the institution where she is yet the actual alma mater.

Toward the close of the year 1881, the earnest and faithful president, Miss Howard, who had long been in delicate hh, was granted an extended leave of absence; and Miss Alice E. Feman, professor of history, was made vice-president. It speaks volumes for Mr. Durant's insight into character that he had perceived the possibilities of this quiet, fragile, comparatively unknown girl of 26 years, and just before his death had recommended her for advancement in the college. Yet her sudden call to the head of its government, in the critical period which followed, was felt to be a doubtful experiment; and when Miss Howard permanently resigned her position, early in the following year, conjecture ran high as to her successor. Miss Freeman, however, displayed such maturity of mind, such a grasp of the situation, and such rare executive talent, that the trustees gladly accorded her the presidency. She entered upon her unexampled career in that capacity in September, 1882.

Alice Elvira Freeman was the daughter of a physician, and was born in a quiet country town in New York State. An aspiring girl, she prepared for the college course at the University of Michigan, where she took her first degree. (Her degree of PH. D. was conferred by her alma mater in 1883, as a tribute to her brilliant success at Wellesley.) Her life at Ann Arbor, where she was "one of a handful of girls among hundreds of young men," fostered decision and perseverance, and gave her wide-awake ideas on the collegiate education and government of women. The helpful part which she took in the Christian association there, and in aiding the growth of a young and struggling church, fitted her in some degree for the religious leadership of the Wellesley students. She taught for a short time in the West before assuming her professorship of history; but it is to inborn power, rather than to the lessons of experience, that we must attribute her unequalled success.

Before Mr. Durant died the college had ceased to admit new preparatory students; and by the time Miss Freeman entered upon her duties as president, the whole preparatory department had been dropped. Thus the institution had taken the greatest step in its intellectual progress, and was now ready to give itself wholly to its proper work. The change had also a second important effect; a freer government followed the leap in scholarship. The lower grade, by bringing in a large proportion of young and immature girls, occasioned a strictness of discipline which was not needed for the collegiate classes. Since it was abolished, however, many restraints have been laid aside, and it has been the tendency of the faculty to throw the control more and more upon the students themselves—a course which has been abundantly justified by its results.