SCHOOL DAYS AT ST. MARY'S,
rebellion, soon after she first came to St. Mary's, her
short and decisive speech, Young ladies, if you do
not comport yourselves with propriety, I shall report
you to Madame," had silenced them once and for ever;
for, though they might occasionally be tiresome, and
they certainly were, it went no further.
 Upon Miss Wilmot the heaviest burden fell; she
was young, and, previous to her coming to Mrs.
Palmer's, had had only the care of two docile sisters
at home. Then, too, she had been guided by religious
principles from a very early age, and could not under-
stand the high-spirited girls she had come amongst,
who seemed ready to dare anything wrong if only
Mrs. Palmer knew nothing of it, and whose rudeness
to herself was a bitter drop in the cup of life's suffer-
ing, which, however, she knew a loving Father had
mixed for her, and therefore strove after submission.
Sometimes she felt strongly inclined to tell Mrs.
Palmer of the girls' unprincipled and unkind conduct,
but she was held back by feeling sure that Mrs.
Palmer would think her to blame for not controlling
the unruly spirits as she did. And, indeed, this was
a great failing on the lady's part; she could not
understand insubordination, never having met with
it, and did not make sufficient allowance for those
lacking the gift of government which she was privi-
leged to possess. Certainly this gift made her task
of managing the school far easier than it otherwise
would have been. Everything went on at St. Mary's
with the regularity of well-oiled machinery, and
indeed, poor woman! she scarcely needed additional
trials; the school itself brought many anxieties, and
hers had been a life of sorrow for many years. In
St. Mary's churchyard, near the fair blue channel,
there were four green graves, and well she knew that