Catharine Maria Sedgwick

“ Hyde has been a mother to me. She has qualified me to take charge of a family of my own, so that, with the blessing of God, I hope to perform my part well, and to contribute to Charles's prosperity as well as his happiness. Oh, mother, what a happy world this would be if there were plenty such as you and Mrs. Hyde—if the rich and the poor, in their respective stations, felt and acted right. How foolish and wicked are those who try to set one against the other; when, by being friends, and acting in agreement, so much good could be done, so much happiness gained. ”

“ Just as her breathing betrayed that she had fallen asleep, and Lucy, believing that all danger for that night was past, was yielding to the demands of nature, Eugene started up wide awake and screaming. This was too much for Adéle's patience. He had taken his milk, and she had no proper resource for quieting him, so she adopted that most convenient to herself; and rising, she took the vial from its hiding-place, and, with her back towards Lucy's bed, was in the act of dropping some drops into a spoon, when Lucy sprang upon her and wrested the vial from her hand. ”

“ Your time, your strength, your ingenuity; a person who will sit by a child and contrive it amusement for half an hour is far more generous than she who goes out with a full purse and buys the same child an expensive toy. Our means of generosity do not depend on our riches—your generosity, dear Lucy, when you have foregone a pleasant walk of a Sunday, and sat down by poor little Jemmie, and made him happy for an hour, has often brought tears to my eyes. ”

“ This was done, and well done in a minute, and no one can question Lucy's faculties who has seen "mother's room," in a house where there are half a dozen boys, a baby, and a "never mind!" mother. The Lovetts' hospitality was the first ray of kindness that had fallen on the poor stranger since he had reached our shore, whither he had come full of hope as the pioneer of starving friends at home. In Charles's absence not one of the family could speak an intelligible word to him; but each, eagerly offering some kindness, employed a language as universal as human feelings. ”

“ It is our business to sow the seed and till the ground, and then, whether bright or cloudy, the harvest will come in due season. You will have trials, Lucy: your most faithful services may pass without praise, thanks, or even notice—but be patient, my child—toil not for praise—do not shrink from undeserved blame. Be content with the sense of doing your duty—judge yourself honestly, and never forfeit your own self-respect. ”

“ Hartell will turn away my servants, he must get others to suit himself—I'll have nothing to do with it."
"Ah, madame, that is like the poor devil who said, when the coach went over the precipice, 'Never mind, I am but a passenger.' Madame cannot live without French cooking. American cooking is for the brutes, not for ladies. If madame could only persuade Mr. Hartell to return to Paris—"
"Ah, Adéle, if I could! Dear Paris! I shall never go there till I go to heaven. Mr. Hartell makes a point of never going where I wish—he says, if he goes again to Paris, he shall go without me." ”

“ She knew no more of that science which every woman should study, domestic economy, than the Queen of France knew of political economy, when, being told her people were clamorous for bread, she asked, "Why, if there was no bread, did they not give them cake?" Mrs. Ardley believed, in the honesty of her heart, that when she had hired plenty of servants, paid punctually the highest wages, bestowed handsome presents, fed them not only bountifully, but luxuriously, and never scolded, she had performed the whole active and passive duty of a mistress. ”

“ Lucy's labours were interrupted by a summons home. Her father was dead. The events that are appointed alike to all seldom pass without awakening sympathy. No poor widow could be more lonely than was Mrs. Lee; but she found friends among those who bore it steadily in mind that "to do good and to communicate is an acceptable sacrifice."
"Charlie," said Mrs. Lovett, bustling in a few minutes after Lucy had got home, "Charlie would not give me a minute's peace till I came over to see how you all were—and so forth." ”

“ Well, I trust Bridget will send her off before breakfast — don't tell her I know anything about it."
"If she asks me, ma'am?"
"Nonsense! she won't; but if she does you can turn it off without telling a lie."
"I don't wonder," thought Lucy, "mother gave me so many, many charges about being steadfast in the truth. Who could have thought that a lady as old as Mrs. Broadson could have as good as told such a child as I am to lie! but I guess I shall find there's not many like mother, who thinks everybody ought to try to make everybody else as good as well as as happy as they can." ”

“ But persevere, my child; good will certainly, in the long run, overcome evil."
"I will try my best, mother. I must go now. Good-by, Jemmie. If you only feel as much better as I do for just this little visit, you'll kiss me and not shed one tear. Good-by, father! I hope, mother, you won't look quite so pale when I come home next time. Give my love to the girls when they come from Sunday-school," and away she ran, without shedding a tear — till she was out of sight. ”

“ Hyde led the way to another apartment; when there, Lucy's brow contracted and her lips quivered. There is something irresistibly touching in the distress of the young. We expect storms in winter, but we shrink from the cloud that lowers over the promise of early summer. "What is the matter, my child?" asked Mrs. Hyde, so kindly that tears came to Lucy's relief, and she was imboldened to say, "You do not remember me, ma'am?" ”

“ Lee was reduced to passiveness, and a long interval of temperance, enforced though it was, had caused him to revert to some of the feelings of his better days. "Come to my bedside, Lucy," he said; "you are going out into the world, child—you'll find it's a selfish world—everybody is for number one—keep open a jealous eye—don't submit to be trampled on—I have seen enough of the tyranny of mankind—I have no faith in them—your mother will tell you a different story—your mother is one of the best of women, and her own goodness is a kind of veil between her and the wickedness of the world. ”

“ His wife proceeded: "I can't but hope Lucy will find hers in a faithful performance of her duties. I can truly say I have often envied servants when I have heard the merry peals of laughter in the kitchen, and known what anxious hearts there were in the parlour."
"But what is all this to the purpose! Lucy shall never live in anybody's kitchen."
"It is much to the purpose", replied Mrs. Lee, judiciously answering to the first clause of his sentence, "to settle it in our minds that Lucy may be good and happy in any position". ”

“ Mother, are not words very poor to express our strongest feelings? I seem always to be struck dumb when my heart is fullest, and now, when the time has come when I may suitably tell you how dearly I love Charles, how truly I have loved him ever since the cold morning he left us the loaf of bread, it seems as if the words I use every day, and in relation to other persons, were not strong enough to express a feeling so much stronger than any other. ”

“ You and I, Anne, know a great many who perform well their domestic duties without their interfering with what are called higher pursuits. But I do not know how there can well be a higher pursuit than the improvement and happiness of those who are placed by Providence in those little primary schools, over which we, in virtue of our characters as mothers and mistresses, preside. Let us try to train our girls, for this their happiest sphere—to prepare them to be the ministers of Providence to the more ignorant children of the human family. ”

“ Overjoyed they were to find Lucy, and not a little pleased that they had brought from their teacher extraordinary commendations of their well-learned lessons. "I wonder, mother," said Lucy, "what Mrs. Ardley would say to your finding time to see to the girls lessons, when, with six of us to do her work, I heard her say to a lady 'she did not know what her children were studying—she had not time!' Only think, mother!"
"There are many occupations that fritter away the time of the rich, which those who must be devoted to necessary labour know nothing about. ”

“ Ardley," replied Sophy, softened; but, when Mary Minturn goes, I shall sleep alone; and you know, when there were two of us, we never liked David's having to pass through our room to get to his."
"Oh, I understand now—but indeed, Sophy, it is too absurd and old maidish! Such a respectable man as David!"
"I know that, Mrs. Ardley—and that is why we have submitted to it so long—but I do not think it will be suitable when I am alone. You ladies are fenced and guarded on every side; poor folks must take care of themselves." ”

“ Miss Ophelia and her sister had gone to their French school. Eugene, the baby, was exquisitely dressed; no one could deny Adéle's perfection in every department of the toilet. Lucy had arranged the nursery, and was sitting at her needlework, when Mrs. Hartell made her appearance. She was a tall and handsome woman, of about thirty, but her beauty was impaired by paleness and langour, and powerless from the absence of all expression. ”

“ Ardley. You complain of nothing but your disappointment in not coming home at the promised time?"
"No, mother—no," said Lucy, persevering in her resolve not to disturb her mother with her little grievances, and really feeling them to be very small while she looked at her, gently submitting to a tide of troubles, and resisting where she could overcome by resistance. If we all felt other's burdens more, we should feel our own less. ”

“ And blessed and kissed by both Bridget and Judy, Lucy set her face homeward, thinking as she went, "Well, mother was right—we can, if we try hard, overcome evil with good, and we can get people to love us if we make the most of our opportunities!" ”

“ The Father of all leads his faithful children by no barren way. For them there are gleanings in the most steril fields. Lucy, while serving others, was educating herself. Besides the daily exercise of difficult virtues, she was increasing her value by learning to perform domestic offices well. Mrs. Broadson had not given her life and her soul to house-affairs without excelling, and Lucy learned in her novitiate the most thorough mode of dusting, how most accurately to make a bed, the best way of cleaning plate, and that heavy duty of our winters, polishing brasses. ”