The Pope appears to deplore the movement for the education
of girls heartily. He evidently holds that if the girls of Europe are to be educated; the women of Europe will cease to be Roman Catholics ; and if the women of Europe cease to be Roman Catholics, it is all over with the Pope. The particular occasion of his anxiety is the foundation of a college for women at Mont- pelier, which has been supported and patronized by a "highly pious princess," but which the Pope thinks will "inflate" women's minds with " the pride of a vain and impotent science," instead of fitting them to be good mothers and useful members of society. It is curious to see even the Pope compelled to encounter the modern spirit on its own ground and not on his own. If he said what he evidently in his heart desires, it would be that schools and colleges for men and women alike should be abolished, as tending to inflate the mind with " the pride of a vain and im- potent science," but he is compelled to take the weaker ground of denouncing education for women only. For the ignorance of men it is no longer possible to contend. The ignorance of women is still the stronghold of the Papacy ; but would it not be better policy to resist it by secret organization, than thus openly to blurt out the facts?
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