In 1869, in another address to the same Society, Miss Beale unfolded for the first time her ideas of the help which should be given to girls who were in need of education they could not afford, more especially to those who wished to prepare for a life of teaching. ‘I propose,’ she said, ‘the foundation of a new Benevolent Society, which shall be distinguished from other societies by its rigid adherence to the principle of giving nothing away.’ Instead of gifts, she suggested yearly loans of money, for the use of which an exact account and report of work done should be rendered. This Society has never been founded, but the work Dorothea Beale wished it should do was carried on by herself, quietly and thriftily, but with ever-widening operations, to the day of her death. At one other point did Miss Beale at this period touch opinion outside her own sphere. This was by writing for the Kensington Society,—a little semi-educational association which during its short life included many names of women who were in their day leaders in philanthropic work and thought. The topics on which its members wrote or deliberated were such as these:— 17 CUNNINGHAM PLACE, LONDON, N.W., _November 15, 1865_. _The Kensington Society._ 1. What are the limitations within which it is desirable to exercise personal influence? 2. What are the evils attendant upon philanthropic efforts among the poor, and how may they be avoided? 3. How does the cultivation of artistic taste affect the wellbeing of society? Meanwhile the general work of the Ladies’ College, Cheltenham, was going on quietly and steadily, developing in every best way. The valuable time of the Principal was no longer taken up with the superintendence of lessons and chaperoning music pupils. A larger and gradually improving staff enabled her to arrange her own work so that it might be of the greatest service to the College. But her increasing interest in education at large, her ever-growing sense of having a special place in a large movement, were never allowed to distract her mind from the work of the hour. Rather, she used them as an inspiration for daily drudgery. The preparation of lessons, the minute and careful correction of notes of lectures,—monotonous work which demands a continuous strain of attention, went on week by week. By means of this quiet, diligent toil she and her fellow-workers were building the real College, of which the fine structure whose first edition was opened in 1873 is but a sign and a symbol. CHAPTER VIII ORGANISATION ‘Shepherds of the people had need know the Calendar of Tempests in the State; which are commonly greatest when things grow to equality, as natural tempests about the equinoctia.’—BACON.