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. 
