Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/543

 behind in the great creations of intellect and Art. Where the golden mean lies is a much vexed question, partly because people forget that the training proper for her who is to be a wife and mother differs both in degree and kind from that needed for her who is to gain an independent living. But this much may at least be said with confidence, that where the voice of woman is ever— I will not say hushed, for no system could effect that—but where the voice of woman comes ever muffled from behind a screen, there man deliberately denies himself invaluable help. There are many questions no doubt which can be well decided by man alone; there are indeed some which it is an abomination for woman even to touch; but in the great majority joint counsel is best. The cleverest man will always find much to learn from a woman. The female mind is before all things practical, and an effectual solvent for what—in lack of a more classical term—we call fads. Man sees many objects, but their very number causes them to be blurred; the eye of woman takes in a narrower field, but the outlines of what it does see are remarkably distinct. Woman dismisses the fringe of a subject with a wave of the hand or a curt depreciatory formula and concentrates herself on the main features, a method which gains in promptitude if it sometimes loses in abstract justice. And so it comes to pass that in the search after truth woman often finds the jewel while man is still lighting his lantern. How long will you refuse the assistance of her who is your natural ally? How long will you do injustice to your wives and daughters, and through that injustice injury to yourselves? And it is not only that you lose the counsellor, you lose the friend also. What true companionship can there be between two persons whose minds have nothing in common?

And now, in conclusion, as to your duty to the State, by no means the least important of your duties. You have first to smoothen the way in dealing with the millions whom we call the masses. Always a difficult task for a Government to get its recommendations and measures understood by these, it is especially difficult when rulers and ruled belong to different races and start with different traditions. Here you can, each in your own degree, be of real service. For