her. Some people are injured by springing out of bed as soon as
they wake, and others by letting the time drift by while they doze. Some
one gives this good rule, "Decide when you ought to rise to make the
best use of your day. Make a point of rising at that time; but go to bed
earlier and earlier till you find out how much sleep you need in order
to be fresh at that hour in the morning." Such a rule would meet most
cases, but not all; for though regularity is as important for health as
for a wise life, it cannot be an iron regularity, especially if a girl
is at all delicate. I would give more flexible rules, though it is
harder to keep flexible rules than iron ones.

I have said before that when you are tired you should rest at once, if
you can. Rest completely, but not long. Half an hour on the sofa is
generally enough. Rise early, because an extra hour in the morning can
be better used than one later in the day, and if duties crowd you get
tired in remembering what you cannot do. But if you are not fresh in the
morning, go to bed earlier. If that does not meet the case, your
weariness probably comes from some other cause than insufficient rest.
Perhaps your room is not well ventilated, or you may suffer from
indigestion, or you may exercise your brain too much and your body too
little. If you sit over books or sewing all day, you will always be
tired however many hours you sleep. Most girls from fifteen to twenty
need about nine hours sleep. If you wish to rise at six, you ought to be
in bed at nine.

A few, a very few, of you must be invalids. You may have inherited a
wasting disease, an accident may have crippled you, or something else
beyond your control may have brought this misfortune upon you. But most
of you have it in your power to be well, and remember you will be doing
something morally wrong if you become feeble women.

III.

A PRACTICAL EDUCATION.

What is a practical education for a girl? Whatever will fit her for
life. The question and answer are trite. What will best fit a girl for
life? First of all a well-balanced character. I knew a girl who was a
good cook before she was ten years old; she had a genius for sewing; she
was an excellent scholar in school, and had musical talent, and yet
because of her capriciousness she never filled any place she was called
upon to fill in life, and her home was a place of discomfort to her
husband and children. Another girl, one of the noblest I ever kn