Lydia Sigourney

“ With the aid of her faithful colored servant, who rendered most affectionate service by night and by day, I had the great comfort of ministering to her throughout her last illness. Towards its close three dear friends shared with me, in turn, these offices of love. Bringing their cheerful smiles into the sick-chamber, and ever welcomed there with smiles, the intercourse seemed like that of those only a "little lower than the angels." For the last ten days of her life we had the aid of a most excellent and tender nurse, whose experience and untiring care made her a comfort to us all. ”

“ Not disjoined from utility were the pleasures of waking life. Sports and reveries were much confined to my great, paradisaical garret, and the sound of rain upon its ample roof imparted a perfect sense of security and bliss. Every falling drop seemed to strike a sweet wind-harp, moving the whole soul to melody. But when in the parlor with older people, I was fain to imitate their employments, and encouraged to do so. I early plied the needle, and at the age of six was ambitious to execute the plainer parts upon my father's shirts, which were made by my gentle-hearted grandmother. ”

“ Some were called forth by specific cases of bereavement, at the request of the bereaved. Yet while its last lines still lingered in the press, I had myself need of the solace which it aimed to bestow on others. They lingered to receive my sad heart's tribute to the memory of that true, dear, unselfish friend, Mrs. Faith Trumbull Wadsworth, whose love, from my early years, through all changes, changed not. Suddenly, with scarce a warning that awoke apprehension, she ascended to those angelic natures with whom, for almost fourscore years, she had communion and growing congeniality. ”

“ A beautiful volume of prose and poetry, thus entitled, was sent me from London, where it had been selected and published without reference to me. As you have probably never seen it, my dear friend, none having been sent to this country save a few gift copies to myself, I will transcribe for you the courteous words with which they introduce it to the British public:
"A wreath of song, and old romantic lay,
And pleasant tale, wherewith to cheer the hearth
Around the winter's cheerful blaze, when day
Dies in the west, and evening with its mirth
And social interchange of love has birth." ”

“ Each bears its burden of change, its garland of hope—pointing silently to its felicity of progress, or its sum of error and of loss. Each knits into the web of life a slender thread of gold, or sable. Each brings its budding rose, its leaf of cypress, or its spray of evergreen, for the wreath of memory. All, as they fleet away again to the dreamy past, demand praise for the Preserver, whose "mercies are new every morning, and fresh every moment." ”

“ And Benedict Arnold had done it. He was seen to point with his glittering sword, and say, "Soldiers, to your duty!"
Ah, stern duty of pitiless war! executed, as we trust, sometimes with compunction, otherwise man would be a fiend. Came there not, in future years, some lingering cry of these widows and orphans into the heart of that bold, bad man, when, bowed with age, he felt in a foreign land the loneliness, neglect, and loathing which are wont to overtake the traitor? ”

“ The eldest, Thomas, evidently inherited the energy of his mother. He possessed a laudable ambition to sustain the dignity of an unsullied aristocracy. No equipage was so conspicuous as his, no horses so fine, no harnesses so lustrous, no carriages of such immaculate neatness and taste. An elegant mansion rose at his word, on a commanding eminence. To our more plebeian eyes it was like that of "Peveril of the Peak." Two sons and five daughters enjoyed and beautified this attractive abode. ”

“ In the season of flowers our capacious vase was freshly filled by contributions from many little hands, and each one in rotation took charge of the premises for a day; no unfitting apprenticeship for that science of household order and neatness which ranks both among the accomplishments and duties of our sex. When I looked on those fifteen fair young faces turned toward me with a loving trust, how earnestly did I desire and determine to omit no labor even on the lowliest foundation, where a symmetrical character might ultimately and safely rest. ”

“ Dolls that opened their eyes, moved their joints, and moaned, were unknown, and might have been deemed the work of necromancy. I never possessed any save those of household manufacture, and they were not eminently distinguished by fine proportions or elegant costume. My best one had a face of cambric, black pin-heads for eyes, half-circles drawn with a pen for eyebrows, lips of a slip of vermilion silk, curled flax for tresses, and handless arms pinned submissively over her stomach. The doll-genus were not at all essential to my happiness. ”

“ You should see by what a world of grape-vines I am encompassed. They climb upon my piazzas, draw a cordon around the walls, besiege every loophole, look in at the chamber windows, and leap from my summer-house to the surrounding boughs, hanging their clusters in the air. I have striven to restrain the last-named class of explorers, and woven them perseveringly in with the lattice-work, but they have an irresistible pioneer spirit. Were the prolific impulses of my vines as strong as their emigrating ones, I might searcely know how to garner their fruits. ”

“ It was doubtless of great antiquity, and seemed then in as vigorous health as when, after the abdication of the fourth Stuart, and the accession of William and Mary, it opened its casket, and restored to the rejoicing colony its well-guarded treasure.
After a fortnight's stay I returned home with heightened happiness and overflowing gratitude. Renovated health and the rose-tint faintly reappearing on the cheek, delighted my doting parents, and uplifted their opinion of the wisdom of our good physician into a sort of homage due to a tutelary being. ”

“ To prevent a too frequent invasion of time, she appointed one day in each month for the transaction of this business, when groups of earnest, hard-working women might be seen, wending their way on side-saddle and pillion, bringing the fruits of their diligence, and flattered to be received at the great house as coadjutors and friends. Thus, this estimable lady, who, like her father, was the personification of benevolence, illustrated, in her own ingenious way, the principle that the best mode of helping the working-classes is to sustain their self-respect by prompting them to help themselves. ”

“ Two sisters of Colonel Wadsworth resided with his widow—single ladies advanced in years, of the most unassuming and intrinsic excellence. Heartfelt piety, an integrity that never swerved, diligent improvement of time, warm affections for those of kindred blood, and unsealed sympathy for the woes of all humanity, marked their blameless lives. In their own peculiar apartments they preferred the quaint furniture of ancient times, endeared by associations with beloved and departed parents. ”

“ Cheered by intercourse with him, and the beloved ones whose beautiful mansion was as a home, the fair spring had reached its meridian, when, with a heart overflowing with gratitude to my benefactors, and prayers that Heaven would repay them fourfold, he accompanied me to my parents. Having a noble horse that he was fond of driving, and an easy chaise, he preferred on this occasion that primitive form of conveyance to a more ostentatious equipage. ”

“ This book has gathered some of those sentiments which both in poetry and prose had been suggested by the most important era in the life of woman. From the absorption of time and thought incidental to such an event, I thought it fitting that the words uttered should be few. Robed in white silk, this slight gift has sought the hand of many a fair young creature, as she left the paternal hearthstone to make for herself a new home, amid duties whose full import eternity alone can unfold. ”

“ Time, thus looking back, is not a bare line, just stringing together personal identity, but intermingled and intertwined with thousands of slight incidents that give it beauty, kindliness, reality. It is not merely a collection, an aggregate of facts, that comes back to you; it is something far more excellent than that: it is the soul of days gone by, the dear auld lang syne itself, quickened, and in new robes. ”

“ I felt that their absorbing love could never be repaid by the longest life-service, and that the responsibility of an only child, their sole prop and solace, would be strictly regarded by Him who readeth the heart. I had seen aged people surrounded by indifferent persons, who considered their care a burden, and could not endure the thought that my tender parents, who were without near relatives, should be thrown upon the fluctuating kindness of hirelings and strangers. ”

“ This is one of the comparatively few books in our day which will be read with glistening eyes and glowing heart, when all who now read shall have gone to their graves. It is written by Mrs. Sigourney, in the character of one who has herself past the meridian of life, and addresses itself to sensations and experiences which all whose faces are turned westward can feel and understand with her. It is, much more than 'De Senectute,' Christianized. It is devotion, philosophy, and poetry so intertwined, that each is enriched and adorned by the association. ”

“ Benevolence would thus be quickened, humility made more profound, and the warm wish that all men be blest, ascend a constant and pleasing orison to a Deity whose nature is love.
Let us meditate more frequently on this inspired command. Formed as we are for social intercourse, the universal brotherhood of our kind should be an acceptable doctrine. The paired birds seek the shelter of one nest; all animals of gentle heart are gregarious; it is only the savage beast that chooses to stalk forth alone, prowling for prey and blood. To civilized man, the sweetest sound is the voice of man ”

“ The upper, or old town of Norwich, my birthplace, was decidedly aristocratical at the period of which I speak. Yet its aristocracy was not founded on wealth alone, but on the firmer basis of honorable descent and moral excellence. Higher principles were called into exercise more not to disgrace an ancestral name embalmed by the respect and love of the community—than merely to amass money, or to display it. Hence the structure of society was good where the influence of wealth aided the power of virtue. ”

“ I think I have not spoken much of those important personages in every New England household, the domestic assistants. I early discerned that the term servant was unpopular and inadmissible among them, and that they must be styled help, whether they were in reality helps or hindrances. In our state of society, where equality so evidently prevails, to continue an intercourse that implies subordination without frequent changes, is not often feasible. Yet in this respect I consider myself to have been favored by Providence, having an aversion to fluctuating helpers, unless necessity requires. ”

“ I was persuaded by a gentleman who was engaged in elevating the condition of Common Schools in the State of New York, the late Mr. J. Orville Taylor, to prepare a work of didactic instruction—narrative and poetry—adapted to the use of the young of my own sex during their progress in scholastic education. The design was pleasant, but having only a month that I could devote to it, labored both night and day. I half feared that it would be written in my heart's blood, so many interruptions occurred, and so determined was I, if possible, to keep my promise of having it ready at a certain time. ”

“ This code, the fruit of experience and observation, was solidified in twelve brief rules, each fenced by a hope or penalty, and read every morning after our devotional exercises, that none might plead forgetfulness. No slight praise was it to that blessed assemblage of young creatures, that they never objected to this minute supervision, but strove to sustain it. Cheerfully admitting that order, industry, and propriety of conduct, were essential to the object for which as a body politic they held existence, each lent their aid to that discipline which was its health and hope. ”

“ Only children, probably, are more in the habit of making their lonely hours dramatic, than those whose companionship with brothers and sisters leads them to the sports and affinities of outer life. At all events, with the visiting thoughts that cheered my solitary childhood, snatches of song I know not from whence, and scenes peopled by fancy, came vivid pencillings of the delight, dignity, and glory of a schoolmistress. ”

“ Communion with those of my own sex in life's blossoming season has always been to me delightful. This volume was a selection of themes that I deemed of vital importance. At first it contained eight letters, but was eventually enlarged to eighteen, comprehending about three hundred pages. I felt a peculiar degree of diffidence about this publication, and offer it in my journal "as an oblation at His footstool who alone giveth guiding wisdom and sustaining strength, and who is able to grant that it may implant in the young mind some seeds of pure motive and prevailing piety." ”

“ The introduction to a new abode was signalized by many kind, social attentions in the form of calls, entertainments, and parties. Such marked regard from the aristocracy, as well as other classes, might have humbled me with the feeling that I had no just claim to it, had I not considered it as a demonstration of respect to my husband. He, though a devoted and successful merchant, often found time, toward the close of day, to take little excursions, always choosing to drive himself, through the beautifully varied scenery which the suburbs of the city presented. ”

“ Though a Wisdom that never errs has pointed out the tendency of the human mind to undervalue that which is ever within its reach, yet our country, which, more visibly than any other on the globe, has been uplifted by her self-made men, and is not obtuse to the principles of loss and gain, is unwise to overlook those talents which reflect distinction upon herself. Yet the obstacles which, in early life, Colonel Colt encountered and overcame, deepened his sympathies for every form of hardship, and his liberality in aiding and upholding the laboring classes. ”

“ I had heard of a society in New York, which accorded good prices for nice needle-work, with the intention of encouraging that form of female industry. I was expert and delicate in the uses of the needle. Might I not sew, and earn something for them?
These unsolved anxieties were deepened by the consciousness that I was soon to leave their roof forever. Still this was imperfectly realized until the time of separation came. They were so thoughtful of my feelings, as never to allude to that event with any expression of regret. ”