Life and Letters of Hannah E. Pipe. By Anna M.
Stoddart. (W. Blackwood and Sons. 15s. net.)—Hannah Pipe was born to teach. When she was a little girl she made her dolls go to school, and. at the age of seventeen she started to teach on her own account., though she had Dr. W. B. Hodgson for "guide, philosopher, and friend." From the first, as the name of this eminent man will show, she had high ideals, used the most approved methods, and was wise enough to choose the best helpers. She named her school after Laleham, where Thomas Arnold did his first work, and was careful to transfer the name from one place to another as the work grew in her hands and compelled a change. Dr. Kinkel, a leader of thought in "Young Germany "—he was exiled in 1848—George Macdonald, Henry Morley, and Mr. (now Sir) William Huggins were among the teachers who took part in her activities. She was engaged in schoolwork for forty years, overtaxed herself, and paid the usual penalty. It was delayed for a time, for she seems to have had unusual powers of reouperation,—after a working day of fourteen hours she could sleep without difficulty. But the penalty, if delayed, was not remitted. In 1890, when she was still short of sixty, she gave up her school. Perhaps it is a good thing for a teacher to retire at this age—some eminent authorities have held the opinion—but the retirement should be voluntary. Miss Pipe lived till 1906, retaining her interest in her old work. The story of her life is well worth reading, and its value is increased by the admirable "appreciation" added by Lady Huggins, who had a close personal knowledge of her in the days of her greatest energy.
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