There the baby steps were taken, and at the village school the first stitches were learned, and the A B C duly mastered.
When five winters had passed over Susan's head, there came a time of great domestic commotion, and, in her small way, the child seized the idea that permanence is not the rule of life.

The family moved to Battenville, N.Y., where Mr.Anthony became one of the wealthiest men in Washington County.

Susan can still recall the stately coldness of the great house--how large the bare rooms, with their yellow-painted floors, seemed, in contrast with her own diminutiveness, and the outlook of the schoolroom where for so many years, with her brothers and sisters, she pursued her studies under private tutors.
Mr.Anthony was a stern Hicksite Quaker.

In Susan's early life he objected on principle to all forms of frivolous amusement, such as music, dancing, or novel reading, while games and even pictures were regarded as meaningless luxuries.

Such puritanical convictions might have easily degenerated into mere cant; but underlying all was a broad and firm basis of wholesome respect for individual freedom and a brave adherence to truth.