ABSTRACT
May 24 to celebrate the educational jubilee of Mrs. Byers, the Principal of Victoria College, Belfast, and to present an address from her friends and pupils past and present. The work Mrs. Byers has done for the higher education of girls in Ireland has been very remarkable. When she established her school fifty years ago the schools for ladies were few and mauy of them far from efficient, and the idea of degrees and professions for women was still in the air ; but she became a pioneer in a movement which has made wonderful progress, and the educational opportunities now possessed by the young women of Ireland are largely owing to her. When the Irish Intermediate Act was introduced, its advantages were confined to boys, but a deputation which waited on Lord Cairns and Mr. Lowther, the Chief Secretary, convinced them
that the measure Phould also apply to girls. Mrs. Byers was a member of that deputation, and she was able to show the Lord Chancellor that Irish women had given unquestionable evidence of a marked desire for higher education. The benefits of the Act were largely taken advantage of by girls in all parts of the country, and many of the prizes ~nd exhibitions were won by pupils of Victoria College. When the Royal University was founded it followed the example of I_jondon University, and opened its degrees and honours to women. When attention is called to the defects in the constitution and administration of the Royal University, its work in promoting the higher education of women should not be forgotten. It bas not only conferred degrees upon them, but it can hardly be doubted that it bas been the means of inducing Dublin University to act in the same way. And the action of the latter university may be far-reaching iu its effects. By conferring degrees on the women who have passed the qualifying examinations at Oxford and Cambridge, it may force those universities to conform to modern ideas in this respect. The presentation, which accompanied the address, took the form of a cheque to be used in founding a bursary for the support and education of one girl at the Victoria Homes, Ballysillan, in which Mrs. Bvers has ever taken a most active interest. Her noble work on behalf of neglected children is as much appreciated as her efforts in the field of higher education.
