“Works are no more than animate faith and love.” Longfellow.
In spite of the heavy demands of her own special duties, Miss Buss found time for much public work in which to use her large experience.
She always knew exactly what she was doing and what she intended to do. In the expressive colloquialism, she was “all there,” and she was always there. Whatever she knew she knew well, putting it in its own place, ready for use. The half-knowledge, with its consequent mental vagueness, that contents most of us was impossible to a mind so clear and strong.
And she knew her own limitations, never professing to go beyond. When we remember how wonderfully vivid her imagination really was, we are surprised that it could so be held in leash. In art she gave it free play; and also in history—the story of human life which is the subject of art—she could let herself go. We who knew her in Rome could never question her power of imagination.
In Italy, she not only found but she used her wings. Elsewhere, her imagination found fullest scope in glorifying common things; in seeing through the commonplace, thus consecrating common duties, and calling out the best and highest in common persons—possibly 288a form of genius more rare than that which can turn out fine verse or fine pictures.
Here is a list of work which it overwhelms the average mortal merely to contemplate. But wherever she found herself she worked, and nothing that she undertook to do was left undone.
Miss Buss was a governor as well as founder of her own schools.
She was president and one of the founders of the Head-mistresses’ Association.
She was on the council, and on three committees of the Teachers’ Guild, of which she was a founder.
She was on the council of—
The Cheltenham Ladies’ College,
The Church Schools’ Company,
The Maria Grey Training College for Teachers,
The Cambridge Training College for Teachers,
The Royal Drawing College,
The Woman’s Branch of Swanley Horticultural College.
She was a governor of—
University College, London,
Milton Mount College,
Aberdare Hall,
West Ham Girls’ School,
Grey Coat School, Westminster,
Sarah Bonnell School,
London School of Medicine, and was also on the
Committee of the National Health Society.
As well as an associate of—
College for Working Women,
London Pupil Teachers’ Association,
University Association for Women Teachers,
Art for Schools Association, and of the
Somerville Club.
She was interested in—
The London Institution,
Governesses’ Benevolent Institution.
Foremost among later works must come the Teachers’ Guild, of which the first origin is due to Miss Buss. Like 289most things undertaken for or by women, it began on the strictly practical or economic side; though it now embraces the highest ideals of educational possibilities. It is now devoted to securing the best conditions on which the teacher can best grow; but the first start had to deal with the question how the teacher might live at all.
And as we found the germ of all the higher education for girls in the “Report of the Governesses’ Benevolent Institution,” we find ourselves going back to that Report for the origin of the Guild which aims at the highest development of the teacher.
Governesses, as a class, come to poverty and dependence not from extravagance or self-indulgence, but from sheer self-sacrifice, in unselfish devotion to the claims of relatives, and to no class is thrift more difficult. The effort to make it possible was from the first one of the leading impulses of Miss Buss’ work. As early as 1866, a letter from Dr. Hodgson shows that she had then discussed the subject with him—
... “You may remember the tenor of my remarks in Camden Street on the ‘Reports of the Governesses’ Benevolent Institution.’ When I spoke of saving for one’s self, I wished merely to give, for completeness’ sake, the other side of your phrase ‘saving from our friends.’ The duty and advantage of saving are common to both sexes. Individual cases might be dealt with, or judged, according to circumstances; but the general doctrine must be preached without reserve.
“It would be much nearer my notion to say: ‘Earn sixpence a day (if you cannot earn more), and save out of it a penny, or, if that be not possible, then a halfpenny, or if that be not possible, then a farthing. In any amount, however small, let the claims of the future be recognized.... Let the general duty and wisdom of saving be taught and recognized. Then let the needful allowances be made in individual cases. It may be more meritorious, because more difficult, for one person to save ￡5 than for another to save ￡500. Let each judge himself as he would another.”
290No subject was more constantly present to Miss Buss’ mind, but no practical steps were taken till, on December 2, 1881, the Women’s Education union appointed a special committee to consider the question of establishing a Teachers’ Provident Association, of which Miss Buss was a member, with Mr. G. C. T. Bartley, Mr. Rowland Hamilton, and Mr. Shaen; Mrs. Burbury acting as honorary secretary.
In 1882, a plan was submitted to the Head-mistresses’ Association, of which Miss Buss thus writes to me—
“Our Provident Association is not yet started, but I do not despair. A lady is at work getting up figures, and if all is well in October, we shall go at it again. By ‘we’ I mean the Association of Head-mistresses. We want a sensational article for our Provident movement. Will you write it? I mean, we want the fact of death in the workhouse, misery known to the Ladies’ Guild, etc., brought out.”
As member of one of the Relief Committees of the Working Ladies’ Guild—a society founded by Lady Mary Feilding for the help of distressed gentlewomen—I had heard much of the sufferings of governesses, and had discussed with Miss Buss the best ways of giving relief. At her request, I now wrote a paper on “Thrift for Teachers,” in which I suggested some co-operation between the Ladies’ Guild and “some possible Guild of Teachers.” This paper appeared in November, 1882, in Miss L. M. Hubbard’s Work and Leisure, a magazine containing the germ of many now important works. In August, 1881, Miss Hubbard had published a paper on “Co-operation among Governesses,” which was followed, in December, by a meeting to consider the scheme finally taking form as the “Women Teachers’ Self-Help Society”; with a Provident Fund and Free Registry.
Miss Hubbard suggested printing off some copies 291of my paper, which Miss Buss circulated among the School-mistresses’ and Head-mistresses’ Associations; but no immediate practical results followed, nor did anything come of a consultation with Mr. Heller to consider amalgamation with his Provident Association of Elementary Teachers.
It was not till December 1 that Miss Buss wrote—
“I think something might come of the notion of the ‘Guild.’ The only thing is that it does not seem sufficiently definite and practical.... We have secured the services of a very able woman, Miss Beth Finlay, as lecturer on ‘Savings.’ She is ready to take the matter up as soon as we shall have arrived at some conclusion.”
On February 7, 1883, a small preliminary meeting was held in the Library of the North London Collegiate School, of which Miss Buss writes on January 26—
“I saw Miss Ward of the Training College on Wednesday, and find that she is very anxious about a Provident Scheme. She also thinks well of the Teachers’ Guild Movement. She suggests that we should hold a very small meeting of a few earnest persons. Will you be able to come, and suggest some names of those whom you think we might ask?”
The ladies present at this meeting were Miss Buss, Miss Metcalfe, Miss Agnes J. Ward, Miss Dunlop, Miss Hodge, Miss Rouquette, Miss Townsend, the Misses Ridley. Some others were invited who were unable to be present.
From the minutes taken on this occasion, I find that Miss Buss read a report which had been presented to the Head-mistresses’ Association, and discussion followed on each point of this report. It was finally agreed that the Provident and the Aid Societies must be kept apart.
The name was changed to that of “Teachers’ Provident Guild.” A committee was formed of the persons 292then present, and Miss Jenny Rundell was proposed by Miss Ward as honorary secretary, with the address of the Training College, then in Skinner Street.
On March 12, 1883, Miss Buss writes—
“At a committee meeting of the Head-mistresses’ Association held last Thursday it was resolved to establish a Teachers’ Guild, the objects of which were to be—
(1) To provide mutual help and sympathy.
(2) To maintain a high standard of moral and mental education.
(3) To encourage provision for sickness and old age, and to found Homes of Rest and Associated Homes.
(4) To assist teachers in obtaining situations.”
This action was confirmed on March 16th, at a meeting of the School-Mistresses’ Association, when Miss Agnes J. Ward read her paper on the “Principles and Practice of Thrift among Teachers.” At this meeting a sub-committee was formed to establish the Teachers’ Guild.
The Guild was definitely organized at the Conference of Head-mistresses, held in June, 1883, at Croydon, when Miss Hadland, Head-mistress of Milton Mount College, offered her services as honorary secretary, if the purposes of the Guild might be widened by the omission of the word “Provident.” Miss Hadland also secured the use of an office in the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, lent by her friend the Rev. R. J. Verrall. The clerical work was done at Milton Mount College, with the assistance of the Rev. R. Guest.
A provisional committee met fortnightly, working out the constitution of the Guild, till, on February 23, 1884, the inaugural meeting was held in the rooms of the Society of Arts, with the Right Hon. A. J. Mundella in the chair, and with an attendance of the leading educationalists, whose interest had been excited in the new work.
293At this meeting, Mr. Storr stated that he—
“thought it only right that the names should be given of the two ladies to whom mainly this movement owes its initiative. One is Miss Buss—not only the doyenne of head-mistresses, but the mother of us all—I mean of us ‘Brethren of the Guild.’ To Miss Buss’ energy all the earlier results are due before the accession of Miss Hadland as honorary secretary, of whom it may be said that without her unwearied labours during these eight months this meeting could not have been held.”
Miss Hadland resigned her post as honorary secretary to Mr. Jocelyn De Morgan, who was appointed secretary, in the new rooms taken for the Guild at 1, Adam Street, Adelphi. He was followed by Mr. Garrod, at 19, Buckingham Street, and in the present office, 74, Gower Street.
With the appointment of Canon Percival as president of the Guild, Miss Buss and Miss Hadland retired from public view, but for some time they continued to exert a very strong influence. Miss Buss was especially active in the appointment of the secretaries, making full inquiry before proposing the candidate, as she had very high ideas of the qualifications for this office. The value of the Guild in raising the professional aspect of teaching soon became evident to her, and she omitted nothing that could work to this end.
The same feeling for struggling teachers that led to the formation of the Teachers’ Guild moved Miss Buss in the origination of the “Teachers’ Loan Society.” The idea itself seems to come from Miss Beale, who thus refers to it in a letter to Miss Buss, dated November 26, 1882—
“I have not yet had time to give the loan system a fair trial, but I have no doubt of its success.... I think there should be such a society attached to every large school, and a small number—say, a triumvirate—should administer the funds. We have 294assisted five now.... I do hope something will be done to establish some such system. It is so much better morally than gifts and scholarships, as it makes the pupils think of their responsibilities.”
Miss Buss enlisted Miss Ewart’s interest in the scheme, and a committee was formed consisting at first of Miss Buss, Miss Ewart, Mrs. Stair-Douglas, Mrs. Hertz, Mrs. Fitch, Mrs. Dockar-Drysdale, and myself. Miss Ewart became honorary secretary, mainly supplying the loan-fund, and to the present time has devoted herself to this work, proving effectually that the “amateur” can be thoroughly business-like, and that a very large amount of most useful work can be done in perfect silence, known only to those who have reaped the benefit of it.
Every educational work seemed to enlist Miss Buss’ help, as we find that, from 1865, she was a frequent visitor at the Working Women’s College, founded by Miss Martin.
As early as 1869, Dr. Hodgson gauged Miss Buss’ powers, and determined to use them in a sphere wider than her own work. He wrote to her as follows—
“My dear Miss Buss,
“I have a great favour to ask from you, though it affects your own sex more than it does me. I wish your consent to be nominated on the Council of Preceptors. The meetings, as you will observe from the card enclosed, are only eight in the year, and all these need not be attended. But no lady has ever yet been on the council, and some of us are determined to break through the barrier of custom which obstructs the doorway left open by the constitution of the council. You will have a large and powerful support, and success is almost certain, even at the first attempt.
“This will be a battle worth fighting. I have written to every member of the council whom I have thought at all accessible to reason, and every answer is favourable. Now, I confidently reckon on your passive support. You are not required either to labour, or to wait, at least beyond the 11th inst., when the election will 295take place. Your consent is all that is needed, and I am sure, for the sake of the principle involved, you will not withhold it.”
“Dec. 16, 1869.
“You would see from the papers that you were elected on the council. Though you come after the three gentlemen on the list, you came before them in the voting. You had fourteen votes, each of them had only twelve.”
In 1871, apropos to a deputation from the College of Preceptors, Dr. Hodgson again writes—
“My dear Miss Buss,
“I am very sorry that you are in such a chaos. I think it extremely important that the claims of women to equality of recognition in all education should be kept in view. They are too apt to be forgotten by even those who are in principle favourable, so inveterate is the inequity, i.e. iniquity, of English practice in this respect. Your presence on the deputation will be a valuable protest as regards both the existence of the claims themselves and the fact of their being recognized by educational bodies. The nail must be struck on the head again, and again, and again. Wonderful has been the advance already made, but the battle is very far from being already won.
“Yours ever truly,
“W. B. Hodgson.”
In 1873, Miss Buss sent me a letter from Mr. Christie, proposing to elect her a Life-governor of University College, in which she adds—
“Could you write to Mr. Christie in such a way as to answer his question about my ‘services to education’?
“I cannot well see my way to a fair estimate of my own work. At all events, it is easier for some one else to estimate it for me.”
Her own letter to Mr. Christie may be given—
“202, Camden Road, Dec. 5, 1873.
“Dear Mr. Christie,
“I fully see the principle you desire to assert by proposing me as a Life-governor of University College, and I shall 296be very grateful, not only for the honour conferred on me, if I am elected, but also for the great impetus which would be given to women’s education, by such a recognition. University College has been, of late years, so liberal to women that I trust the opposition to such a course as you propose would be less than formerly.
“I send you a pamphlet containing a sketch of the origin of our two schools, but as we have made much progress since it was written, and it is difficult for me to put a fair estimate on my own share of the success, I have asked one of our lady trustees to give you an estimate. I am sure you will shortly hear from her.
“With many thanks,
“Believe me,
“Frances M. Buss.”
At the end of 1894, when Lord Reay “deplored the loss of many distinguished members of the college,” Miss Buss’ name appears in a very notable list, including Lord Bowen, Lord Hannen, Sir Henry Layard, Professor Henry Morley, Sir J. R. Seeley, and Professor Romanes.
In early days, the pressure of her own work, and in later days, the state of her health, often prevented Miss Buss from appearing in public. Here are two out of many invitations declined with regret on this account—
“Faversham, Sept. 24, 1871.
“Dear Miss Buss,
“I begged Miss Ridley to tell you that I had not ventured to express our very great wish that you might be present at the Education Conference at Norwich, but I take courage now to ask, if it is impossible for you to go, whether you would send any written message or statement referring to any point you most wish to draw attention to yourself. Miss Beale has sent us a most excellent paper, giving her views on School Organization in the form of an account of her college and its work. We hope there will be an earnest discussion of educational topics, and if you would take part in it by writing, if not in person, you would greatly enhance the value of the conference. I do not know if Miss Ridley or Miss 297Gurney is going, but, faute de mieux, I need not say how glad I should be to read any communication of yours.
“I do not yet know on what day our conference is to be. It will form part of the work of the Education Section of the congress.
“Ever truly yours,
“Emily A. Shirreff.”
“Queen’s College, Oxford,
“July ............