THE AGASSIZ SCHOOL 51 



you keep all the rules in pronouncing.' I think that remains 

 true to this day." 



By 1863 the purpose for which the school had been es- 

 tablished was accomplished, and owing to the uncertainties 

 occasioned by the Civil War it was given up. As Agassiz's 

 income from his salary was at that time also increased, 

 the pecuniary anxieties that had been so heavy a burden 

 were permanently lightened. From occasional references 

 in the letters given below it will be seen that the closing of 

 the school was a great relief to Mrs. Agassiz. But by means 

 of it she had been instrumental in freeing her husband from 

 indebtedness and providing a sufficient wherewithal for the 

 expenses of his family. Apart from the care and bringing 

 up of her step-children, the school is her first important 

 achievement. She was its originator and guiding star, 

 although the brilliant light of Agassiz gave it perhaps its 

 more distinctive lustre. 



In order to keep unbroken the story of the school, some 

 significant events of the period while it was in progress have 

 been omitted. During these arduous years Agassiz's career 

 as a naturalist was expanding, and he was entering upon one 

 scientific undertaking after another, in all of which Mrs. 

 Agassiz was his constant companion and helper. Her exist- 

 ence, in fact, from 1855 to 1865 cannot be understood with- 

 out reference to the chapters in his memoir in which she 

 has traced his activities through this decade of unremitting 

 toil, when solicitude for his health, which suffered from 

 the strain to which he was subjecting it, became an ever 

 present element in her life. A few letters, however, selected 

 from these years illustrate some of her more personal in- 

 terests and also the spirit that continually animated her. 



