Mr. Stoddard called for the teacher of each woman to step forward;
and a copy of the Old Testament was presented to every one of them,
as they stood in a row in front of their pupils. There was one woman
who stood without a teacher. Mr. Stoddard called for hers also, and
some one whispered to him that she had been taught by her husband.
Mr. Stoddard thereupon led him out, and, placing his hand on his
head, said, before the whole assembly, "All honor to the man who has
taught his wife to read!" and presented him also with a Bible.
One who was frequently present often wept to see Women giving a
morsel to their infants to quiet them, that they might devote the
longer time to their lessons; some of them so intent on the work of
learning, that their faces were bathed in perspiration. She used to
fill her pocket and reticule with cakes for the little ones, so that
their mothers might be more free from interruption. The exercises of
that day gave a great impulse to the cause of education in Geog
Tapa. As many as seventy adults were soon poring over their spelling
books; and the next summer one half of the adult women were either
readers or engaged in the same employment; though previous to the
examination of the Seminary in 1850, not one in thirty could read,
or cared to learn.
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