An Invitation
Cheers for Thomas Higginson, who writes “Nature
has everything to dread from constraint, nothing
from liberty.” Mr. Lincoln thinks so too.
When he issues the Emancipation Proclamation,
Matthew Vassar signs beside his name.
Can it be the chain of ignoble submissions
will break? Mr. Babcock, trustee of the proposed
Vassar Female College brings an offer:
I teach young women astronomy, lead them
toward that destiny for which they are endowed.
I feel myself urged on by idiotic tirades
in the press. Reverend Todd promises that women,
so delicate, will die if they attempt
to go through college. Dr. Clarke predicts
no less than ruination of the Commonwealth.
Thank God for the sane men! Dr. Wilder
holds all science possible, proper for a woman.
Harriet Hosmer traveled far to find
a doctor who would teach her the human body.
Without it, she could not make her sculpture art.
The trustees seem convinced that I am the one
to fill the void. I only wonder am I
equal to this place—no college degree myself,
no passport to such regions. How am I fit?
I believe in woman even more than in astronomy.
