EUROPE 277 



thing. They came down quite seriously, and after a 

 moment with one accord as they stood quite silent at 

 the foot of the stairs, they recited the poem about the 

 clock. As you look at their work their knitting and 

 embroidery, their writing and sewing, and as you see 

 their enjoyment of beautiful things, flowers, for in- 

 stance, you cannot help thinking that they have, as 

 Phillips Brooks said, some inner sense which stands 

 them in stead of what they have lost. 



No account of any series of years in Mrs. Agassiz's life is 

 complete without some mention of Nahant. The summers 

 there during the period of which we are speaking were 

 scarcely less active for her than her Cambridge winters, as 

 may be seen from some reminiscences of them written for 

 the family by Mrs. Cornelius Conway Felton in an unpub- 

 lished sketch called "Summer Days at Nahant," from 

 which the following selections are made. 



The house was placed on a slope of land so that one 

 side of it was entered from the grassy lawn, without 

 any driveway. The other side facing the sea was high 

 enough to give a fine uninterrupted view of the whole 

 bay and the Lynn shore. At first there was not a tree 

 or a shrub on the place, but Aunt Lizzie's love for the 

 beautiful soon prompted her to plant woodbine be- 

 side the porches and to begin a garden. She was a born 

 home maker, and any abode of hers, even if for a 

 day's visit assumed an air of cosiness as well as ele- 

 gance. Everything was dainty, fresh, and in her 

 housekeeping no friction was perceptible between 

 mistress and maids. At any hour of the day or night a 



