Page:Over the river, and other poems.djvu/23

Rh The independent working of her mind was observable in her childhood. Mr. Dunn, who knew her in school, as well as in the family and the church, continues,

"She was truly self-made according to hef own ideal type, as she would make no one her model of imitation. It was early manifest that the Muses charmed her ; for, as she mused, the fire burned in her mind to express her thoughts in verse. Those who peruse the productions of her pen, and consider the disadvantages under which she labored, will be convinced that she was a natural poet; and, had her life been continued a few years longer, her poetical works would have been greatly augmented and enriched."

She enjoyed the usual advantages of common-school education in a town where the schools held a high rank in comparison with those of other places. During the latter part of the time, she attended the academy, then taught by the Rev. Mr. Wilmarth, and made good im provement of her time as a diligent and conscientious girl. In 1851, when she was about fifteen, the family, as said above, removed to Hinsdale, N.H., from which time she ceased to attend school, except for a short period at Bernardston, under Professor Ward of Powers Institute. In the following collection of poems, two will be found relating to her removal from Winchendon to Hinsdale. One of them purports to have been written at the age of fourteen. These little poems have no special merit, but are inserted as a part of her autobiography, and as