5 8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



there was comprehensive, and it required the closest application of an 

 ambitious scholar to succeed. 



One hour was allowed for walking and recreation during the day ; 

 and half of that hour could be spent, if the pupil desired to do so, 

 in the music-room. As the months went on, I began to notice that 

 her complexion, which had been pure rose-leaf, became almost trans- 

 parent, and that the fresh blood left her cheeks : still she did not com- 

 plain nor lose flesh, but said sometimes, if she could sleep a week she 

 would enjoy it, and that it almost always happened, when she was un- 

 well, she had the most to do, and the longest to stand. Her progress 

 in her studies was wonderful ; and it seems incredible to me now that 

 we should have let her devote herself so entirely to them. Her mu- 

 sical talents were great, and they were under cultivation also : when 

 she was seventeen she was the first soprano singer in the choir of the 

 church to which she belonged. 



At last I began to be alarmed at the remarkable flow whenever 

 she was unwell, and at the frequent recurrence of the periodical func- 

 tion. I felt as if something should be done, and consulted our family 

 physician as to what could be given her, and how this increased action 

 could be stopped or diminished. 



He prescribed iron as a tonic, but said that we should do nothing 

 more ; for that " every woman was a law unto herself," and, as long as 

 nothing more serious occurred, she was to be let alone. This from 

 a man who had daughters himself, and eminent in the profession ! 

 Never a word about rest, never a caution that she could overwork 

 herself, and thus bring misery for the remainder of her life. She left 

 school, in June of that year, with noble honors and an aching frame, 

 and, after two months' vacation and rest, which seemed to do her a 

 world of good, began in September another year of unremitting hard 

 study. Loving and gratified parents, proud and expectant teachers, 

 looked upon her as capable of accomplishing all that had ever been 

 done by faithful students, and of advancing far beyond all who were 

 in the graduating class with her. 



Her teachers were as kind as any could have been. I think the 

 fault was in the system that requires so many hours of study, no mat- 

 ter what the condition of the pupil may be. 



ceived, which forms an appropriate and sufficient preface to the sad account that fol- 

 lows it : 



1 March 30, 1874 

 ; Dear Sir : The inclosed statement is from the pen of my wife. If it can serve the 

 right, you are at liberty to make use t>f it in whole or in part, in the language in which 

 it now stands, or in modified or entirely different language as in your judgment may 

 seem best. You, of course, will not give names, certainly not in full. 



' Very truly, .' 



" It is proper to say that, except a few slight verbal alterations, which the writer her- 

 self would probably have made if she had corrected the proofs of her manuscript, no 

 changes have been ventured upon in the language by which a mother presents the in- 

 structive lesson of her daughter's method of education, and its result." 





