Cambridge sketches
Estelle M. H. Merrill, Ed.

[185] arrived, for we heard rumors that a young lady had sought instruction from three different professors, and that she was enjoying in some degree the privileges that we desired for others. The young woman was Miss Abby Leach, who had come to Cambridge that autumn to be instructed by Professors Goodwin, Child and Greenough. Others had done the same thing before, and it is true that Miss Leach had not made any plan for such systematic courses as I had in mind, but her success in interesting three professors served to increase my hope that a systematic course would not only be received with favor, but would be successful. I therefore determined to bring the matter to the attention of the professors. Our nearest neighbor among those who occurred to us was Professor Greenough, and on the evening of the twenty-fifth of November I called at his house, intending to tell him that I had a plan to arrange for women a course of instruction exactly the same as that which Harvard College offered to men, and to ask the professors to give the necessary instruction. I had arranged a list of the professors who seemed to me desirable to interest, based upon the elective pamphlet of that year, and with many misgivings I pulled the door-bell at Professor Greenough's home on Appian Way. It was evident, as soon as the door opened, that the house was filled with company and that the opportunity was not a good one for the serious business that I had in mind. I confess to a sense of relief when I saw a postponement in prospect, and I merely asked Professor Greenough if he would not call at my house on Phillips Place the following evening, with Mrs. Greenough, because I had a very important subject that I wished to discuss.

The professor was true to his promise, and the