ered and seasoned, and am sometimes so
presumptuous, at others so depressed. Why cannot I lay more to
heart the text, "God is never in a hurry: let man be patient
and confident"?

PROVIDENCE.

In the spring of 1837, Margaret received a very favorable offer to
become a principal teacher in the Greene Street School, at Providence,
R.I.

'The proposal is, that I shall teach the elder girls my
favorite branches, for four hours a day,--choosing my own
hours, and arranging the course,--for a thousand dollars a
year, if, upon trial, I am well enough pleased to stay. This
would be independence, and would enable me to do many slight
services for my family. But, on the other hand, I am not sure
that I shall like the situation, and am sanguine that, by
perseverance, the plan of classes in Boston might be carried
into full effect. Moreover, Mr. Ripley,--who is about
publishing a series of works on Foreign Literature,--has
invited me to prepare the "Life of Goethe," on very
advantageous terms. This I should much prefer. Yet when the
thousand petty difficulties which surround us are considered,
it seems unwise to relinquish immediate independence.'

She accepted, therefore, the offer which promised certain means of
aiding her family, and reluctantly gave up the precarious, though
congenial, literary project.

SCHOOL EXPERIENCES.

'The new institution of which I am to be "Lady Superior" was
dedicated last Saturday. People talk to me of the good I am to
do; but the last fortnight has been so occupied in the task of
arranging many scholars of various ages and unequal training,
that I cannot yet realize this new era. * *

'The gulf is vast, wider than I could have conceived possible,
between me and my pupils; but the sight of such deplorable
ignorance, such absolute burial of the best powers, as I find
in some instances, makes me comprehend, better than before,
how such a man as Mr. Alcott could devote his life to renovate
elementary education. I have pleasant feelings when I see that
a new world has already been opened to them. * *

'Nothing of the vulgar feeling towards teachers, too often to
be observed in schools, exists towards me. The pupils seem
to reverence my tastes and opinions in all things; they are
docile, decorous, and try hard to please; they are in awe of
my d