Mr. Mitchell was a man of great suavity and gentleness; if left to
himself he would never have denied a single request made to him by one
of his children. His first impulse was to gratify every desire of their
hearts, and if it had not been for the clear head of the mother, who
took care that the household should be managed wisely and economically,
the results might have been disastrous. The father had wisdom enough to
perceive this, and when a child came to him, and in a very pathetic and
winning way proffered some request for an unusual indulgence, he
generally replied, "Yes, if mother thinks best."
Mr. Mitchell was very fond of bright colors; as they were excluded from
the dress of Friends, he indulged himself wherever it was possible. If
he were buying books, and there was a variety of binding, he always
chose the copies with red covers. Even the wooden framework of the
reflecting telescope which he used was painted a brilliant red. He liked
a gay carpet on the floor, and the walls of the family sitting-room in
the house on Vestal street were covered with paper resplendent with
bunches of pink roses. Suspended by a cord from the ceiling in the
centre of this room was a glass ball, filled with water, used by Mr.
Mitchell in his experiments on polarization of light, flashing its
dancing rainbows about the room.
At the back of this house was a little garden, full of gay flowers: so
that if the garb of the young Mitchells was rather sombre, the setting
was bright and cheerful, and the life in the home was healthy and
wide-awake.
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