And indeed there was nothing revolutionary in the movement towards higher education for women. True, the education of girls and women had not till then been considered an object to be sought on a large scale. But there had been educated and even learned women in England, in the days of the Renaissance and Reformation, though there can be little doubt that--in the higher circles, at least--a check came with the frivolities of the later Stuart court. But without going into uncertain historical details, it is noticeable that in the early part of the nineteenth century, such different persons as Sydney Smith and Mrs. Hannah More became eloquent advocates of more serious education for girls than they commonly received. The arguments of these and like-minded reformers were not thrown away. It is beyond question that in many parts of England, in early and middle Victorian days, there were high-minded, intellectual, and accomplished women conducting girls' schools on reasonable principles and with good mental and moral results; and a good deal of the highest education in girls' schools was given by men--sometimes of considerable standing and ability. The position of a private governess was not remarkably dignified or lucrative (_vide_ the experiences of the Brontes); but there were some such private teachers who did excellent and much appreciated work. Still the course of a girl who had inward longings for intellectual culture was often hard; and harder still was that of young women who had a liking for literature and art, combined with a distaste for unvaried domestic interests or social routine. The happiest were those who had sympathetic elder brothers at College, who could talk over their difficulties with them and recommend books. Such was eminently the position of Miss Clough herself. Her education--discursive and not without lacunae--had been a home education, her chief mentor an Oxford brother, whose mind and tone of character it is superfluous here to describe. It was in great part to help those who, like herself, had had aspirations after knowledge and culture, and who, unlike herself, had not always had sympathetic homes, that she and other pioneers in Cambridge desired to secure facilities of continuous study under the direction of capable and inspiring teachers. It may be advisable to indicate briefly the different ways in which efforts were made to meet the existing wants, some of which led up to the goal of university education for women.[1] [Footnote 1: In this part of the subject, and indeed throughout my task, I am constantly indebted to the _Memoir of Anne J. Clough by her Niece, B. A. Clough_. This book ought to be familiar to all interested in educational movements, since Miss Clough, while most closely associated with the University side of the movement, was throughout her life collaborating with great sympathy and insight with those at work in other departments.]