They gave nothing in return.
Of course this is not true of all girls, and of course the gentleman who refused the chair in the woman's college would agree that it is not true of all girls, but if those who read the anecdote would, instead of getting indignant, just look into the matter a little, they would see how true it is of many girls, and by thinking a little further we can see that it is not at present the girls' fault.

A hundred years ago girls were not expected to think.

I remember an anecdote which a very intelligent old lady used to tell me about her mother.

Once, when she was a little girl, her mother found some fault with her which the daughter knew to be unjust, and she answered timidly, "But, Mother, I think--" "Abigail," came the sharp reminder, "you've no business to think." One hundred years ago it was only the very exceptional girls who really thought.

Now we are gradually working toward the place where every girl will think.