AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 45 



I next stopped at a nice country town called 

 Westchester, the inhabitants of which seemed 

 alive to the great cause I had espoused, as my 

 class there numbered two hundred and fifty. I 

 was happily surprised, just before leaving, by 

 receiving a diploma which greatly cheered, at 

 the same time that it stimulated, me to add more 

 and more to my store of knowledge. 



Having now had two years' experience in the 

 practice of my system, my confidence in it, and 

 its superiority over any other known system, 

 was so thoroughly established that I had no fear 

 of submitting it to any test nor of subjecting it 

 to any criticism. I, therefore, decided upon visit- 

 ing the great city of Philadelphia. I fortified 

 myself as best I could, and on the 28th of 

 November, 1869, 1 made my debut there. What- 

 ever solicitude I might have felt would have 

 been speedily removed by the cordial and flat- 

 tering reception I received from the people of 

 the Quaker City. One academy being insuffi- 

 cient to accommodate those who flocked to listen 

 to my instructions, I built a second, and as the 



