they were to read, that, making the spirit of the author their own, they might more accurately interpret his style.
Next to Reading and Orthography, with Definition, of which I have already spoken, came clear and beautiful Penmanship. In thoroughly teaching this I was most assiduous. During its allotted hour I took no seat, but was ever passing from one to the other, to supply what was needed, regulate the holding of the pen, or improve the formation of the letters. As I set the copies after which they wrote, I reaped the advantage common to instructors who teach any right thing by example—self-improvement, even beyond that of their disciples. The acquisition of a chirography which has been praised as eminently easy to read, and not ungraceful, I owe somewhat to early care, but more to the habit of teaching it to others.
For Arithmetic, as leading the mind to application and concentration, I had a high esteem. I wished to render it subsidiary to the keeping of accounts—a womanly attainment of great practical value. If every girl, as soon as she can write, should be induced to place the items of her expenditure in a little book for that purpose, it would be a practical guide to the right use of her income in future life. It would be a pecuniary protection to her husband, if she chance to have one, and save her from the forgetfulness and reckless indifference with which our sex often spend money,
