in. Besides, physiological reformers had the making
of our public system. "A man without high health," said Horace Mann, "is
as much at war with Nature as a guilty soul is at war with the spirit of
God." Look first at our Normal Schools, therefore, and see how finely
their theory, also, presents this same lofty view.

"Those who have had much to do with students, especially with the female
portion," said a Normal School Report a few years since, "well know the
sort of martyr-spirit that extensively prevails,--how ready they often
are to sacrifice everything for the sake of a good lesson,--how false
are their notions of true economy in mental labor, ... sacrificing their
physical natures most unscrupulously to their intellectual. Indeed, so
strong had this passion for abuse become [in this institution], that no
study of the laws of the physical organization, no warning, no painful
experiences of their own or of their associates, were sufficient to
overcome their readiness for self-sacrifice." And it appears, that, in
consequence of this state of things, circulars were sent to all
boarding-houses in the village, laying down stringent rules to prevent
the young ladies from exceeding the prescribed amount of study.

Now turn from theory to practice. What was this "prescribed amount of
study" which these desperate young females persisted in exceeding in
this model school? It began with an hour's study before daylight (in
winter),--a thing most dangerous to eyesight, as multitudes have found
to their cost. Then from eight to half past two, from four to half past
five, from seven to nine,--with one or two slight recesses. Ten hours
and three quarters daily, Dolorosus! as surely as you are a living
sinner, and as surely as the Board of Education who framed that
programme were sinners likewise. I believe that some Normal Schools have
learned more moderation now; but I know also what forlorn wrecks of
womanhood have been strewed along their melancholy history, thus far;
and at what incalculable cost their successes have been purchased.

But it is premature to contemplate this form of martyrdom, for Angelina,
who has to run the gantlet of our common schools and high schools first.
Let us consider her prospects in these, carrying with us that blessed
maxim, five hours' study a day,--"Nature loves the number five," as
Emerson judiciously remarks,--for our aegis against the wiles of
schoolmasters.

The year 1854 is memorable for a