I had a treasure
house in the school books of my elders, especially the McGuffey
series of Readers from One to Six. For pictures I was driven to the
Bible, dictionary, historical works read by my father, agricultural
papers, and medical books about cattle and sheep.
"Near the time of my mother's passing we moved from hopewell to the
city of Wabash in order that she might have constant medical
attention, and the younger children better opportunities for
schooling. Here we had magazines and more books in which I was
interested. The one volume in which my heart was enwrapt was a
collection of masterpieces of fiction belonging to my eldest
sister. It contained `Paul and Virginia,' `Undine,' `Picciola,' `The
Vicar of Wakefield,' `Pilgrim's Progress,' and several others I
soon learned by heart, and the reading and rereading of those
exquisitely expressed and conceived stories may have done much in
forming high conceptions of what really constitutes literature and
in furthering the lofty ideals instilled by my parents. One of
these stories formed the basis of my first publicly recognized
literary effort."
Reared by people who constantly pointed out every natural beauty,
using it wherever possible to drive home a precept, the child lived
out-of-doors with the wild almost entirely. If she reported
promptly three times a day when the bell rang at meal time, with
enough clothing to constitute a decent covering, nothing more was
asked until the Sabbath.
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