Her health was delicate in her old age, and she followed a strict regimen, eating carefully, exercising faithfully indoors, walking about sunset across her room so many times, until she had done certain proportions of a mile, and enjoying at the same time the beautiful western view towards Prospect Mt. of which she never wearied. She was very fond of her garden, her charge was the flowers, Mary had especially the fruit, & James the brother, whose last years were spent in Litchfield, took the vegetables—Miss Sarah, when she had been away for a visit, always brought home with her some new flower, planted & cherished it—She worked all the summer mornings so much time, in her garden, wearing an old fashioned calash to screen her weak eyes, carrying a bit of old carpet and a little stool for weeding. She was cheerful and took a lively interest in everything, social, political, literary, and heartily enjoyed a good laugh. A good and fluent talker, and liked to meet good talkers and intelligent people. Very scrupulous in attendance on all religious exercises, but ready to criticise if she thought anything stated wrongly or exaggerated. It was a day of a certain seriousness & sobriety; a reaction perhaps from times of too great freedom and levity. She said once that when she was much younger, dancing & games were considered all right, but as society increased the “balls”[82] generally held in the top story of the hotel lost in a measure, their attraction, although occasionally there were balls there attended by the young ladies of the school and the young men studying law. It was the same with cards, gambling had increased to a dangerous extent, and in the great revival under Lyman Beecher, these originally harmless amusements, were not considered proper for those who aimed for the better life. NOTES COLLECTED FOR MRS. ASA GRAY.[83] Mrs. N. Child, [Elizabeth C. Prince] writes Mrs. Beach’s [Lucy Sheldon] memories—She was Miss Pierce’s next door neighbor:— “Last evening Aunt again talked with me about your family, and I herewith send what may not be of much use to Mr. B. but may interest the friends. “The father Mr. John Pierce was a potter, making the red earthen jars, pots, milk pans, & so on, used much in the households of those days. “The family lived in the old red house, and the large elms now standing were set out by Mr. John Pierce[?] the son. “Mrs. Beach remembers attending Miss Pierce’s school in 1794. And Mary Cutler, my Aunt, died there, of scarlet fever, when one of the pupils, and that was in 1793. [October that year.] This must have been, Aunt thinks about at the Commencement. “Col. John Pierce, Miss Pierce’s brother, paymaster-General in the army, gave his sister the advantages of schooling by sending her to New York, where she was fitted for a teacher, in the English branches and in dancing.[84]