departure of our two eldest daughters, who made judicious and happy marriages—Mrs. Elizabeth Knox taking up her residence in Troy, and Mrs. Jane C. Burnham in the city of New York. There they became the mothers of interesting and promising families, beloved by their many friends, and discharging the duties of their position with gracefulness, fidelity, and piety.
All these changes served to make me the more susceptible of gratitude for the attentions of friendship, to which throughout life I have been so deeply indebted. One more instance of its singular disinterestedness I should love to relate to you.
Among the neighbors of our hill-residence were Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Colt, who inhabited the spacious and pleasant mansion opposite our own, now the abode of my friend Mrs. John A. Taintor. He was a native of Massachusetts, a gentleman of fine form and countenance, and amiable manners; and his wife, who was a daughter of the late Major Caldwell, one of our most distinguished citizens in early times, was a model of dignified beauty. At the social visits which that immediate neighborhood strove systematically to maintain, they were accounted our handsomest couple. Their family consisted of two daughters and four sons, the former of whom having been among my pupils when I was so happy as to be employed in the work of education.
