mud floor of the small school room covered with straw mats; one
window, of oiled paper, admitting the light; and a brick stove, with
a few rude benches, its only furniture. In the other room, where the
cooking was done, the pupils ate, and spent their time out of
school. Here were two windows of like material; and besides the
mats, the floor was covered with a thick felt, on which they spread
their beds at night. A table was provided, covered with a coarse
blue and white check. There were also a set of coarse plates and a,
few other dishes, but no knives nor forks. They eat their soup with
wooden spoons, and their other food with their hands. Their
clothing, like their cooking, was mostly in native style; and they
were taught to make it for themselves.

Another object in missionary education is, to do enough to stimulate
to exertion, and yet not foster inefficiency or undue dependence.
The Nestorians are poor, but doing too much for them may make them
still poorer. They must be brought to sustain their own institutions
at the earliest possible moment, and their training should keep that
end in view. Hence Miss Fiske writes, "At first I was inclined to do
more for them than afterwards, and at length settled down on this
principle,--to give my pupils nothing for common use which they
could not secure in their own homes by industry and economy. So I
furnished only such articles as they could buy in the city. I
preferred that they should make all their own clothing, and may have
grieved friends sometimes by declining clothing which they offered
to send for them. We chose rather to spend our own strength in
training them to provide for themselves. I do not mean that I am not
glad to see foreign articles in Oroomiah; but we were in danger of
fostering a more expensive taste than they would have the means of
gratifying. Our great object is to raise up the most efficient