ghted on the
circular of Mrs. Smith's Female Seminary, situated in the quiet and
salubrious village of----, within a few minutes' walk of three or four
places of worship.... Great care taken of the health, manners, and
morals of the pupils.... Exercise insisted on.... Those whose parents
may wish it, allowed the use of a quiet saddle-horse.... The pupils
under the immediate supervision of the principal.... They have all the
comforts of Home, etc., etc. All this, in addition to a thorough course
of instruction in every thing ever heard of, not forgetting the Use of
the Globes.... Music on the piano and guitar; there are six pianos in
the institution.... Drawing, Monochromatic, Grecian, Oriental, etc.,
etc. Painting in oils and water-colors.... Embroidery, ten different
kinds.... Terms, $--per annum. Then follows an imposing list of
references, Reverends, Esquires, and Honorables.

My friend, taken with this, decided that her daughter, Bessie, should go
to Mrs. Smith's seminary. Accordingly, a short time before the
commencement of the next term, she accompanied her there; was so pleased
with Mrs. Smith's bland politeness toward herself, and her affectionate,
almost matronly manner toward her daughter, that she came away relieved
of all anxiety on Bessie's account.

I hope I am not 'violating the sanctity of private correspondence,' in
giving the following letter from Bessie:

'MY DEAR MOLLY: I received yours last evening, and hasten
to reply, though, to answer your numerous questions will take me
till after prayers. I shall consequently, as I am not the _model_
pupil, get an absence-mark. You inquire as to the advancement I am
making in my studies. One thing is certain, I shall not come home
the _encyclopedia_ mother expects. I'll not say that this
'flourishing institution' is a humbug; but will say that facts and
the circular do not exactly tally. A few of the facts I will give,
and you can judge for yourself.

'To begin with the supervision of the bland, portly principal. She
enters the school-room makes a few criticisms, asks a blessing at
the table; occasionally a misdemeanor is reported to her, when the
offender is cited to the august presence, and duly reprimanded, not
according to the quality of the offense, but, in an inverse
proportion, to the _quality_ of the offender. Her teachers do the
mental drudgery of the institution. Their