“Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our being’s end or way; But to live that each to-morrow Finds us farther than to-day.” We often hear what a glorious thing it is to be a man. With Daniel De Foe, and other great men, we think it as glorious a thing to be a woman. “A woman, well bred and well taught, furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, is a creature without comparison.” You are capable of being moulded into the noblest types of womanhood. There is no limit to your progress, no elevation which you may not pass; your present attainments are not the measure of your capabilities. This book would be radically defective, and would greatly fail in its purpose, did we not attempt to show what woman can be, and what therefore she ought to strive after. The best definition we can give of true womanhood is, that it consists in having all the faculties, physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, existing in a healthy and vigorous condition, so as to be able to perform, in an efficient manner, all the functions for which they are destined. Our aim is bold, broad, truthful delineation. We would not lead you to indulge in baseless visions of future eminence; yet your nature is such, that, did you act worthy of it, you might, with the help of God, become more than we are able to describe. The proudest and fairest ideal grows out of the real, and the loftiest tree must have its roots in the ground. _PHYSICAL TRAINING._ In education, as hitherto conducted, the physical powers have not had their due share of attention. Anatomy, physiology, and chemistry clearly teach that the general principles which are true of the vital processes in the lower animals are equally true of the vital processes in human beings. But this has not yet become a part of the living faith of the world. Hundreds and thousands, even among the upper classes, are as ignorant of the wonders and mysteries of the human frame as if God had committed the great practical solecism of making them incapable of self-knowledge. The earth is full of wholesome nourishment, the atmosphere is carefully mixed by a Divine hand, to suit the wants of humanity. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are each beautiful. The oak is strong, and the rose is lovely; the domestic animals are full of vigour; but the young maiden drops off, smitten by consumption, scrofula, or rapid failure of the vital power. Happily, the laws of health are beginning to attract attention, and we are coming to the conclusion that this great blessing might be much more common.