PREFACE.

About a year ago the author was honored by an invitation to address the New-England Wo­mens Club in Boston. He accepted the invi­tation, and selected for his subject the relation of sex to the education of women. The essay excit­ed an unexpected amount of discussion. Brief reports of it found their way into the public jour­nals. Teachers and others interested in the edu­cation of girls, in different parts of the country, who read these reports, or heard of them, made in­quiry, by letter or otherwise, respecting it. Various and conflicting criticisms were passed upon it. This manifestation of interest in a brief and unstudied lecture to a small club appeared to the author to indicate a general appreciation of the importance of the theme he had chosen, compelled him to review carefully the statements he had made, and

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