“I was intensely ambitious to excel in something; for I felt in my own breast that women were capable of taking a higher place in creation than that assigned them in my early days, which was very low” (p. 60).  “Nor ... should I have had courage to ask any of them a question, for I should have been laughed at.  I was often very sad and forlorn; not a hand held out to help me” (p. 47).  “My father came home for a short time, and, somehow or other finding out what I was about, said to my mother, ’Peg, we must put a stop to this, or we shall have Mary in a strait-jacket one of these days’” (p. 54).  “I continued my mathematical and other pursuits, but under great disadvantages; for, although my husband did not prevent me from studying, I met with no sympathy whatever from him, as he had a very low opinion of the capacity of my sex, and had neither knowledge of nor interest in science of any kind” (p. 75).  “I was considered eccentric and foolish; and my conduct was highly disapproved of by many, especially by some members of my own family” (p. 80).  “A man can always command his time under the plea of business:  a woman is not allowed any such excuse” (p. 164).  And so on.

At last, in 1831,—­Mrs. Somerville being then fifty-one,—­her work on “The Mechanism of the Heavens” appeared.  Then came universal recognition, generous if not prompt, a tardy acknowledgment.  “Our relations,” she says, “and others who had so severely criticised and ridiculed me, astonished at my success, were now loud in my praise."[1] No doubt.  So were, probably, Cinderella’s sisters loud in her praise, when the prince at last took her from the chimney-corner, and married her.  They had kept for themselves, to be sure, as long as they could, the delights and opportunities of life; while she had taken the place assigned her in her early days,—­“which was very low,” as Mrs. Somerville says.  But, for all that, they were very kind to her in the days of her prosperity; and no doubt packed their little trunks and came to visit their dear sister at the palace as often as she could wish.  And, doubtless, the Fairyland Monthly of that day, when it came to review Cinderella’s “Personal Recollections,” pointed out that, as soon as that distinguished lady had “achieved something positively valuable,” she received “prompt and generous recognition.”

[Footnote 1:  Page 176.]

CUPID-AND-PSYCHOLOGY

The learned Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, is frequently facetious; and his jokes are quoted with the deference due to the chief officer of the chief college of that great university.  Now it is known that the Cambridge colleges, and Trinity College in particular, are doing a great deal for the instruction of women.  The young women of Girton College and Newnham College—­both of these being institutions for their benefit, in or near Cambridge—­not only enjoy the instruction of the university, but