ship, that it be lightened by kindness, and, as far as possible, an assimilation of interests.
Out of the number of our assistants, I have found some whom it was highly desirable to retain, and been fortunate in their continuance for long periods of time. Their distinctive lineaments of person and mind it is still pleasant to recall. Shall I describe to you two or three of these my friends? for friends I consider them, whose faithful hands conferred benefits upon us both day and night.
Anna Brown, the first of these, who remained with us as long as eight years, possessed uncommon capacity for all manner of household labor, untiring industry, and a firmly-knit frame capable of great endurance. While working for us, it seemed as if she were working for herself; and this repelled both complaint and weariness. It seems almost even to myself that I utter fables, when I say that, with the aid of only a young girl under eighteen, she performed the whole work of a family that, during the finer months of the year, often comprised sixteen or eighteen persons, and that the semi-annual ablutions of our large mansion were conducted by her. Our partially agricultural establishment enlarged the sphere of woman's operations, by the care of milk, the making of butter, of soap, and of candles, both mould and dipped—lamp-oil being little used, and gas and kerosene unknown. Not content with these exploits, she occasionally kept the large
