A Short History of Newnham College, Cambridge. Alice Gardner

      MISS MARION KENNEDY.

      But before the first tripos student had definitely entered on her career, another great step had been taken: the opening of a house for the residence of women who had been attracted by the educational facilities of Cambridge and desired to devote themselves there to some course of serious study. The securing of a house for students had become necessary in the eyes of Mr. Henry Sidgwick, and foremost among the many and great services which he rendered to the College (then hardly existing even in idea) was that he persuaded Miss Clough to come and take charge of the resident students. A house was found in Regent Street, and in the autumn of 1871 Miss Clough and five students began their common life there, and initiated a new stage in the movement.

      Long years afterwards, when Newnham was large and flourishing, with four Halls of residence, a large party up for Commemoration met to explore the cradle of this College, which was the more easily done as the house had become a hotel (The Bird Bolt Temperance Hotel). Two of the original five (Mrs. Marshall and Miss Larner) pointed out to the students of that day the one room which served as dining-room and as common study for these pioneer students; the other sitting-room used in the afternoon for lectures, overlooking Parker's Piece, where they, without a scrap of garden, could envy the boys playing on the Piece; the small rooms which were their bedrooms. The first generation had little elbow-room, no games, a scanty library, a non-luxurious ménage, and very little of what is now considered necessary freedom in work and play. Yet they seem to have been exceedingly happy. They felt, and the feeling remained for at least a dozen years, that they were pioneers. The lectures given by greater men than any they had ever seen before; the pleasures of intercourse, especially for those who had found little intellectual sympathy at home; the long walks over the Gogs or along the Cam, more enjoyed in pre-hockey, pre-bicycling, even pre-tennis days than now; the associations of an ancient and beautiful town; the sympathy shown by the generous men and women who had adopted their cause: all these things must far have outweighed the passing inconvenience of straitened accommodation and even the painful consciousness that the eye of the world and yet more of his wife was upon them, for better and for worse. But perhaps above all, in later days, these pioneer students felt most thankful to think that in that house they had enjoyed the constant presence of Miss Clough and frequent intercourse with the leaders of the movement, particularly of Mr. Henry Sidgwick.

      It may seem superfluous as well as presumptuous for the present writer to dwell on the characteristics of the two leading persons in the early days of the College (or the college-embryo) seeing that their lives and characters have, as already said, been portrayed in biographies which are never likely to be surpassed. Perhaps, however, a little space may be given to those peculiarities which, in both characters, left a permanent impression on the College as a whole, especially since they exhibit traits of an almost opposite description, yet united to produce a great result. In one respect they were alike: in what may be called fundamental sincerity and whole-heartedness, along with wide ranges of interest. Readers of Sidgwick's life and writings cannot but be impressed with his absolute fidelity to any course which had shown itself worthy of approval, his careful attention to every opinion and principle which had any reasonable justification, his loyalty to personal convictions in avoiding any possible compromise with mental tergiversation. He had lately given up his fellowship from conscientious motives. He abstained from identifying himself with any form of institutional Christianity, while fully acknowledging how such Christianity had worked for good, and tolerating the attitude of those who were able for the sake of true religion to accept religious formulae with reservations of their own. In politics, he generally went with the more progressive Liberals, though fully able and always ready to grasp the situation of those who took different standpoints. The efforts and the personal sacrifices which he made in the cause of women's education were not inspired by any one-sided attachment to the cause either on a personal or on a theoretical side. He held no fixed theory as to the equality and similarity of the sexes in mental powers, but was in favour of assisting legitimate efforts, removing unreasonable limitations, and postponing the decision as to whether women can do this or that by giving them the opportunity and awaiting the result. When the result proved favourable to his reasoned expectations, he was naturally pleased, but on all subjects he ever kept an open mind. For persons handicapped in the race of life, by sex, nationality, or poverty, he was always ready to discover new prospects of successful effort. His family life had made him acquainted with women of exceptional gifts even before his marriage with Miss Eleanor Mildred Balfour in 1876, a happy event for Newnham as well as for himself. The frequent presence of a man of his calibre in the incipient college was of inestimable benefit to the early students. He was to them a champion of their cause and a model of sincerity and reasonableness, and to many a very helpful teacher. A larger proportion of students in the early days than later took up some branch of Moral Science—in which he directed their work. And to others he was helpful on the educational side by his encouragement of good literature—which may at times have tended to retreat into the background in favour of severely scientific study. Beyond all this there were traditions among the early students of his extraordinary power in bringing home to them the necessity of maintaining a high standard of order, patience and power of suspending judgment.

      It has been said that in some respects Miss Clough presented a marked contrast to Dr. Sidgwick. This contrast may be partly described by saying that he saw things more in the abstract, she in the concrete. Not that he looked only at general principles and she at isolated instances (for both took large views without neglecting the single examples), but still the distinction was evident. Both had risen by a painful process of mental and moral self-culture above conventional views as to the world and man's place in it, but in Sidgwick the search was chiefly inspired by a passion for truth, in Miss Clough by a desire to promote individual happiness. She naturally referred questions to present cases. Thus—if certain subjects were said to be necessary as preliminaries to a University course, she would at once think whether A. or B. would be the better for having studied Latin or Mathematics. She allowed for diversity of all kinds among students and other persons with whom she had to do. A rule was important to her as touching actual cases, not the cases as exemplifying the rule. She was strong physically and indifferent to discomfort and hardship in all that she undertook. Yet she had no belief in asceticism, and exhorted her students to "take the little pleasures of life." It was her own idea to begin hockey at Newnham, then a most novel suggestion, which brought at first some ridicule and even disapprobation from select circles. She naturally understood and liked some of her students better than others—but even those who had less than others of her special intimacy were at times pleased and stimulated by finding how much of her goodwill they possessed and how she had plans for their future. If her character broadened and mellowed with years, it was not that she was ever intolerant or unsympathetic, but that she responded to the affection and respect of those who knew and appreciated her. She, too, had a sense of humour which enlivened the community from the beginning, and the respect with which both her name and her character were held in the highest University circles more than counteracted an occasional innocent unconventionality in her social intercourse.

      It may seem almost invidious to choose some and omit others among the earliest friends of Newnham, in awarding due meed of praise and gratitude, but certainly the two who have been lightly sketched here were undoubtedly the foremost of Newnham's benefactors. Early students will remember others who have passed away: the Miss Kennedys, with their kind and gracious hospitality, and care for the rather homeless persons who ranked among "out-students"; Mr. Coutts Trotter, who was Chairman of the Council, and left his library to the College; Mr. W. H. H. Hudson, who was financial adviser and auditor for 33 years; Mr. Archer-Hind, who placed his refined scholarship at the disposal of mere beginners in Greek, was always willing to make one lesson swell out into two—and took no fees; Mr. Main, the