"Ye-es; I suppose you're right," dubiously agreed Miss Fanny, whose ideal
of management was to trust everything in the hands of a few girls whom
she knew best and discourage any signs of individuality on the part of
the others.

As regards the work of the various forms Miss Mitchell, helped by her
assistant mistress Miss Barnes, made many innovations. She introduced new
subjects and fresh modes of teaching, and fixed a very high standard of
efficiency. She expected great concentration, and exacted hard work,
especially in the matter of home preparation, but she was an exceedingly
interesting teacher and put much enthusiasm into her lessons. She had a
theory that no subject was really absorbed unless it was vividly realised
by the pupils.

"Imagination is half the value of education" was her favourite saying. "A
child may reel off a string of facts, but unless it can apply them they
are undigested mental food and of no use. What I want to do is to find
out how far each girl understands what she has learnt. Mere parrot
repetition is quite valueless in my opinion, and most public examinations
are little better."

Miss Mitchell's method of testing the knowledge of her pupils was
undoubtedly modern. She would teach them certain episodes of history,
explaining particularly the characters of the various personages and the
motives for their actions, then, instead of a verbal or written catechism
on the lesson, she would make the girls act the scene, using their own
words, and trying as far as possible to reproduce the atmosphere of the
period. Free criticism was allowed afterwards, and any anachronisms, such
as tea in the times of Queen Elizabeth, or tobacco during the Wars of the
Roses, were carefully pointed out. Most of the girls liked this new