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Appendix.
Mrs. Child's character was one of rare elements, and their combination in one person rarer still.
She was the outgrowth of
New England theology, traditions, and habits -the finest fruit of these: but she could have been born and bred nowhere but in
New England.
There were all the charms and graceful elements which we call feminine, united with a masculine grasp and vigor; sound judgment and great breadth; large common sense and capacity for every-day usefulness; “endurance, foresight, strength, and skill.”
A creature not too bright and good
For human nature's daily food.
But lavishly endowed, her gifts were not so remarkable as the admirable conscientiousness with which she used them.
Indeed, an earnest purpose, vigilant conscientiousness, were the keys to her whole life and its best explanation.
We shall better understand her life if we remember it was governed by the divine rule, “Bear ye one another's burdens.”
This, in fact, explains her courage, her economy, her painstaking industry, her interest and activity in reforms, and the scrupulous fidelity with which she cultivated every power.