“Dec. 16, 1855.  All along this year I have felt that it was a hard year—­the hardest of my life.  And I have kept enumerating to myself my many trials; to-day it suddenly occurred to me that my blessings were much more numerous.  If mother’s illness was a sore affliction, her recovery is a great blessing; and even the illness itself has its bright side, for we have joyed in showing her how much we prize her continued life.  If I have lost some friends by death, I have not lost all.  If I have worked harder than I felt that I could bear, how much better is that than not to have as much work as I wanted to do.  I have earned more money than in any preceding year; I have studied less, but have observed more, than I did last year.  I have saved more money than ever before, hoping for Europe in 1856.” ...

Miss Mitchell from her earliest childhood had had a great desire to travel in Europe.  She received a very small salary for her services in the Atheneum, but small as it was she laid by a little every year.

She dressed very simply and spent as little as possible on herself—­which was also true of her later years.  She took a little journey every year, and could always have little presents ready for the birthdays and Christmas days, and for the necessary books which could not be found in the Atheneum library, and which she felt that she ought to own herself,—­all this on a salary which an ordinary school-girl in these days would think too meagre to supply her with dress alone.

In this family the children were not ashamed to say, “I can’t afford it,” and were taught that nothing was cheap that they could not pay for—­a lesson that has been valuable to them all their lives.

“.... 1855.  Deacon Greeley, of Boston, urged my going to Boston and giving some lectures to get money.  I told him I could not think of it just now, as I wanted to go to Europe.  ‘On what money?’ said he.  ’What I have earned,’ I replied.  ‘Bless me!’ said he; ’am I talking to a capitalist?  What a mistake I have made.’”

During the time of the prosperity of the town, the winters were very sociable and lively; but when the inhabitants began to leave for more favorable opportunities for getting a livelihood, the change was felt very seriously, especially in the case of an exceptionally stormy winter.  Here is an extract showing how Miss Mitchell and her family lived during one of these winters: 

“Jan. 22, 1857.  Hard winters are becoming the order of things.  Winter before last was hard, last winter was harder, and this surpasses all winters known before.

“We have been frozen into our island now since the 6th.  No one cared much about it for the first two or three days; the sleighing was good, and all the world was out trying their horses on Main street—­the racecourse of the world.  Day after day passed, and the thermometer sank to a lower point, and the winds rose to a higher, and sleighing became uncomfortable; and even the dullest man longs for the cheer of a newspaper.  The ‘Nantucket Inquirer’ came out for awhile, but at length it had nothing to tell and nothing to inquire about, and so kept its peace.