affection, and in her diary, written in her later years, occurs this
allusion to her:

"I count in my life, outside of family relatives, three aids given me on
my journey; they are prominent to me: the woman who first made the
study-book charming; the man who sent me the first hundred dollars I
ever saw, to buy books with; and another noble woman, through whose
efforts I became the owner of a telescope; and of these, the first was
the greatest."

As a little girl, Maria was not a brilliant scholar; she was shy and
slow; but later, under her father's tuition, she developed very rapidly.

After the close of the war of 1812, when business was resumed and the
town restored to its normal prosperity, Mr. Mitchell taught school,--at
first as master of a public school, and afterwards in a private school
of his own. Maria attended both of these schools.

Mr. Mitchell's pupils speak of him as a most inspiring teacher, and he
always spoke of his experiences in that capacity as very happy.

When her father gave up teaching, Maria was put under the instruction of
Mr. Cyrus Peirce, afterwards principal of the first normal school
started in the United States.

Mr. Peirce took a great interest in Maria, especially in developing her
taste for mathematical study, for which she early showed a remarkable
talent.

The books which she studied at the age of seventeen, as we know by the