Henrietta was discovering in the process of writing, as the born writer does, not merely a channel for the discharge of accumulated information but a stimulus to the development of the creative powers of observation, insight and intuition.

Dr. Isaacs was so pleased with the quality of her biographical study of Sara Sullam that he considered submitting it to the Century Magazine or Harper's but he decided that its Jewish subject probably would not interest them and published it in The Messenger, ``so our readers will be benefited instead.'' Under her father's influence it did not occur to Henrietta that she might write on subjects outside the Jewish field, but she did begin writing for other Anglo Jewish papers and thus increased her output and her audience. And she wrote the libretto for an oratorio on the subject of Judas Maccabeus performed at the Hanukkah festival which came in December. By her eighteenth birthday her bent for writing was so evident that Papa and Mamma gave her a Life of Dickens as a spur to her aspiration.

Another source of intellectual stimulus was opened to her at that time by the founding of Johns Hopkins University within walking distance of home. It was established in a couple of buildings in the shopping district, with only a few professors, but all eminent men, and a few hundred eager students housed in nearby dwellings. In September' 76 Thomas Huxley, Darwin's famous disciple, came from England to speak in a crowded auditorium at the formal opening of the University; and although it was a school for men only, it afforded Henrietta an opportunity to attend its public lectures.