alters or threatens to alter,
any such person's position to the prejudice of such person by reason
of the fact that such person has married or intends to marry, or
with a view to restrain, prevent, or hinder such person from getting
married;

is guilty of an offence, and is liable to imprisonment for three
months, or to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.

(2) The provisions of this section shall apply to corporations so far
as they are capable of being applied.]

WOMEN WORKERS IN SEVEN PROFESSIONS

SECTION I

THE TEACHING PROFESSION

"All stood thus far
Upon equal ground: that we were brothers all
In honour, as in one community."

I

INTRODUCTION

Until recently, girls who desired to earn their livelihood drifted
naturally into teaching, which was often the last refuge of the
destitute. Even nowadays, it is taken too much for granted that some
form of teaching is the obvious opening for educated women, who
aspire to economic independence. But, thanks to various causes and
developments, it is now almost universally recognised that teaching is
a profession, and one which can be entered only by candidates, who are
properly equipped and trained. In a book such as this, it may then
be assumed that the elderly governess, driven to teach by poverty and
lack of friends, with no qualifications but gentility, good manners,
good principles, and a humble mind, is a figure which is mercifully
becoming less and less common. It is still necessary, however, to
insist on the fact that brains and education and training are not
by themselves sufficient to produce a successful teacher. Quite
literally, teaching is a "calling" as well as a profession: the true
candidate must have a vocation; she must mount her rostrum or enter
her class-room with a full conviction of the importance of her
mission, and of her desire to undertake it. This earnest purpose
should not, however, destroy her sense of humour and of proportion;
it is possible to take oneself and one's daily routine of work too
seriously, a fault which does not tend to impress their importance on
a scoffing world. No girl should become a teacher because she does
not know how else to gain her living. The profession is lamentably
overstocked with mediocrities, lacking enthusiasm and vigour, drifting
more and more hopelessly from one post to another. But there is plenty
of room for keen and competent women, eager to learn and to teach, and
this is tru