MARIA MITCHELL. 325 mingle with the best girls of our college, and to be aware how rich their mines are, and how little they have been worked." Her education, both in and out of school, was of the best and most suitable kind. In the intelligent home of which she was a member the news of the day was eagerly gathered and discussed ; scientific topics received a fair share of attention; and many strange facts, not to be found in books, were related and commented upon. She learned, moreover, to use her hands helpfully and skill- fully, to dress tastefully but simply, and to live con- tentedly a plain, frugal life, brightened by study, affec- tion, and society. She had many good friends upon the island, and visitors of distinction who landed upon its shores seldom failed to call at her father's house, where a hospitable welcome awaited them, as well as the pleasure of imparting whatever store of knowledge or anecdote they might possess to a group of curious young people with a gift for listening. At sixteen she left school, and at eighteen accepted the position of librarian of the Nantucket library. Her duties were light, and she had ample opportunity, surrounded as she was by books, to read and study, while leisure was also left her to pursue by practical observation the science in which she afterwards became known. Those who dwell upon the smaller islands learn almost of necessity to study the sea and sky. The Mitchell family possessed an excellent telescope. From childhood Maria had been accustomed to the use of this instrument, search- ing out with its aid the distant sails upon the horizon by day, and viewing the stars by night. Her father possessed a marked taste for astronomy, and carried on a series of independent observations. He taught his daughter all he knew, and she studied for herself besides. At half past ten in the evening, on the first of October,
