before supper in the afternoon, and before bedtime in the evening, she is early enough to answer the demands of gentility. Thus she is expected and required to be behind time by some of the social rites and customs. May this not have somewhat to do with her habit of being late elsewhere?

The Countess of Burford, who is known to fame, was a good example of punctuality to all around her. She was never behind the time in any of her engagements, nor late in the discharge of any duty. During the last few years of her life, she was obliged to ride sixteen miles to her place of worship; and it was said of her, "Neither frost, snow, rain, nor bad roads, were sufficient to detain her at home, nor to prevent her being there before the worship began." The habit of being punctual made her exact in everything.

Mary Lyon was a pattern of punctuality. Although she was so fond of study in youth as to rob her body and mind of some of their nightly rest, she was always ready at the call of every duty. Dr. Hitchcock says: "Though a small thing, it shows the self-control she had attained, that, though in youth, with nothing to do but study, she carried her book to the table, hardly allowing herself time to eat; yet at this period, in the whirl of cares and duties [referring to the

time of erecting the seminary building at South Hadley], she never failed to be at the table ere Mr. Condit asked the divine benediction, always stayed till the table was formally dismissed, and was as punctual at prayers, and in retiring, as she ever required any of her South Hadley pupils to be."

Again, he says: "The promptness with which this executive power was manifested, deserves notice. The moment a thing was found to be desirable and practicable, she felt uneasy till it was in a course of execution. She suspected herself, as we shall see farther on, of being too impatient in such cases; but how venial such a fault, compared with the very common habit of procrastination! With her there was no putting off till to-morrow what could be done to-day. For a few years, in consequence of the length of some of the compositions, the public services in the church, on anniversary days, did not commence till half an hour after the appointed time. She was reminded of it as something unusual at the Mount Holyoke Seminary. The next year the public services commenced a quarter of an hour before the time appointed,-so fearful was the principal lest the school should get the reputation of not being punctual."

The same writer had a dream, which he gives as illustrative of Miss Lyon's promptness. He thinks

it was occasioned by the effect of her punctuality upon his mind. It is as follows:

"I dreamed that I was at the Seminary on Anniversary day, when the examinations were going on, before a crowded audience, in the large hall at the south end of the building. Happening to step out at the door, I saw that all the north part of the building was on fire, the flames rushing out of the window with such fury that it seemed impossible to save the edifice. However, everybody seemed very quiet, and the examinations were not interrupted; but as I passed along, a window opened, and Miss Lyon appeared with a letter in her hand, which she committed to some one to take to the post-office. I thought it a strange time to be writing letters, but was told that it was a circular, which Miss Lyon was getting out to obtain means for erecting a new building!"

On one occasion she gave the following counsel to her pupils: "Now, young ladies, you are here at great expense. Your board and tuition cost a great deal, and your time ought to be worth more than both; but, in order to get an equivalent for the money and time you are spending, you must be systematic, and that is impossible unless you have a regular hour for rising. If that hour is five, and you are on your feet before the clock has done striking, then you are punctual; but if you lie five

minutes, or even one, after that hour passes, you are tardy, and you must lose a little respect for yourself in consequence. Persons who run round all day for the half hour they lost in the morning, never accomplish much. You may know them by a rip in the glove, a string pinned to the bonnet, a shawl left on the balustrade, which they had no time to hang up, they were in such a hurry to catch their lost thirty minutes. You will see them opening their books and trying to study at the time of general exercises in school; but it is a fruitless race; they never will overtake their lost half hour. Good men, from Abraham to Washington, have been early risers."

History informs us that when Napoleon was waging the famous battle of Waterloo, he was brought into a strait, and sent for a reinforcement to be there at a given time. Marshal Grouchy started, at the head of a reinforcement strong enough to have given Napoleon the victory, but he did not reach the scene of strife at the appointed hour, and Waterloo was lost. If Mary Lyon had been at the head of Grouchy's army, it would have been upon the spot in time to have waved its banners in triumph.

Punctuality contributes to both order and energy, and these aid in persevering endeavors in the labor of life.

CHAPTER XXVI.

FRUGALITY.

DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO GIRLS

CLASSES

REPRESENTATIVES OF TWO HABIT OF WASTING REMARK OF SUPERINTENDENT OF BONNET MANUFACTORY -SECRET OF MANY MEN'S POVERTY -SAVING TO HOARD, AN EVIL MRS. PRIOR -MISS DIX AND HER AGED FATHER — MARGARET BOUDET AND HER NIECESMARY LYON HER REMARKS ON THIS VIRTUE ITS GENERAL INFLUENCE ON CHARACTER ONE OF THE PRINCIPLES THAT REGULATED MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY - THE GIRL WHO IS NOT WASTEFUL OF PINS WILL BE FRUGAL IN GREATER MAT TERS.

"I THINK We ought to be frugal, though we have abundant means," said Mary Jones to Hattie Earl, with whom she was discussing the subject of economy.

"Enjoy it as long as it lasts, is my rule," responded Hattie, who was known in the neighborhood for her wasteful habits.

"Yes!" said Mary, "and be miserable and wretched when it is gone."

"That is not my business," rejoined Hattie. "I expect to have a husband to support me, byand-by. I am certain of one thing that I shall not support him."