She was indeed a treasure, a friend and comforter, a second mother to my children, and understood all life's duties and gladly bore its burdens.

She could fill any department in domestic life, and for thirty years was the joy of our household.

But for this noble, self-sacrificing woman, much of my public work would have been quite impossible.

If by word or deed I have made the journey of life easier for any struggling soul, I must in justice share the meed of praise accorded me with my little Quaker friend Amelia Willard.
There are two classes of housekeepers--one that will get what they want, if in the range of human possibilities, and then accept the inevitable inconveniences with cheerfulness and heroism; the other, from a kind of chronic inertia and a fear of taking responsibility, accept everything as they find it, though with gentle, continuous complainings.

The latter are called amiable women.