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Isaac March 30

         1845

Bowd [postmark]BRUNSWICK ME APR 7 12ct

                                                            Mrs. Anna M. Metcalf
                                                                           Milo
                                                                             Maine

Single

Has Joseph gone to Foxcroft? Why? Let him write.

Eliab at home? What is he doing? How does Charles get along? and Every thing? He has had a fine time I should ? to finish up a winters work. Has he sold any hay? How does the house? Look worse & worse as spring comes? Hurry I suppose as usual? What does Ann this spring & summer? Wont she write me some good sisterly letters to Isaac S. Me. [left-hand side, upside down] Our studies this term are 1st Rhetoric, 2d Trigonometry, 3 French. Rhetoric is our ? recitation. It is called by most of the class very hard, that is in the way we are required to study it. It is called Anglylytically. There are no questions and no questions asked. The first one who is called upon, and no one knows who will come first, must get up and commence the lesson, and tell it off, not word for word, but the ideas all of them, without any question or prompting, till he is told to stop, and an other called upon to take it up and go with it in the same manner. This is really harder to many, or was at first, then to commit the whole of it to memory. It is Newman's Rhetorik and the lesson is 6 to10 pages taken up so, and the review so tis 12-20 pages, this gone over every morning.

  It comes dreadful hard to many, most of the class. My next neighbor, Joseph Mason, a smart fellow too and fine Scholar, he has been teaching one of the principal public schools in Hallowell for two years and a half summer & winter. & has acquired a fine reputation there. While he has been there he has about fitted for College and studied the four terms in advance! out of College at the same time teaching that school. As I was saying, this great Mason, and he is really quite a fellow, studies on that Rhetoric some 5 hours hard per day average and then can not hardly make it pass right.  I study it rarely two hours, oftener an hour or even half, and always 'sail' or have as yet.
 In connection with the Rhetoric, we have begun the writing of themes. We have commenced by forming as a separate exercise regular plans or skeletons of themes on appointed. This is really a harder business to make a regular connected plan or system then to write a theme itself.
 Many of the Class I suppose have never so much as written a theme so that I stand a better chance among them, by the way Tutor complimented my plan last week.
 Our Forenoon recitation is Trigonometry now Prof. Smyths. I like it. It is different from the little in the surveying, goes right into it. first shows how the tables are formed. It takes some time, now, as I work the problems all out & keep manuscripts.
 French is easy. Recitation is the longest part of it. I wish I had some good Mathematical instruments.

[bottom of page] Mr. Adams read the Book of Haggar today. I commend it to your consideration, Ye people of Milo. Part of it is exceedingly applicable to you, and considerable of it to some.

[right of upside down part] I dont know whether I shall ever get much interested in studies as I feel in things and

[middle right center beside upside down part] This is probably a mistake ? that I was designed rather a laborer than a scholar. I shall be homesick or farmsick this summer I expect. It amuses me to see how different I am from others in this respect.

[middle left center beside upside down part] I am much obliged to Lucy for the opportunity of perusing her Temperance poem. It is good how received? Macte virtute. persevere in virtue