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Mitchell, Maria, 1818-1889

"Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals"

He said, 'I am a good deal of a Quaker in my
conviction that a light comes to me to dictate to me what is right.' We
stayed about an hour, and we were afraid it would be too much for him;
but Miss Johnson, his cousin, who lives with him, assured us that it was
good for him; and he himself said that he was sorry to have us go.
"One thing that he said, I noted: that his fancy was for farm-work, but
he was not strong enough; he had as a young man some literary ambition,
but never thought of attaining the reputation which had come to him.
"July 31, 1883. I have had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went
to Holderness, N.H., to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T. to
join her party. There were at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr. and Mrs.
Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale, Mr. Williams, the Chinese
scholar, his brother, an Episcopal clergyman, and several others. The
house seemed full of fine, cultivated people. We stayed two days and a
half.
"And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and
at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The
panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes
lie the mountains. We do not see Mt. Washington. The house has a piazza
nearly all around it. We had a room on the first floor--large, and with
two windows opening to the floor.
"The programme of the day's work was delightfully monotonous.


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