Wheatley chose her from a large company of slaves.  It was her intention to teach her the duties of an ordinary domestic; but clean clothing and wholesome diet effected such a radical change in the child for the better, that Mrs. Wheatley changed her plans, and began to give her private instruction.  Eager for learning, apt in acquiring, though only eight years old, she greatly surprised and pleased her mistress.  Placed under the instruction of Mrs. Wheatley’s daughter, Phillis learned the English language sufficiently well as to be able to read the most difficult portions of the Bible with ease and accuracy.  This she accomplished in less than a year and a half.  She readily mastered the art of writing; and within four years from the time she landed in the slave-market in Boston, she was able to carry on an extensive correspondence on a variety of topics.

Her ripening intellectual faculties attracted the attention of the refined and educated people of Boston, many of whom sought her society at the home of the Wheatleys.  It should be remembered, that this period did not witness general culture among the masses of white people, and certainly no facilities for the education of Negroes.  And yet some cultivated white persons gave Phillis encouragement, loaned her books, and called her out on matters of a literary character.  Having acquired the principles of an English education, she turned her attention to the study of the Latin language,[346] and was able to do well in it.  Encouraged by her success, she translated one of Ovid’s tales.  The translation was considered so admirable that it was published in Boston by some of her friends.  On reaching England it was republished, and called forth the praise of many of the reviews.

Her manners were modest and refined.  Her nature was sensitive and affectionate.  She early gave signs of a deep spiritual experience,[347] which gave tone and character to all her efforts in composition and poetry.  There was a charming vein of gratitude in all her private conversations and public utterances, which her owners did not fail to recognize and appreciate.  Her only distinct recollection of her native home was, that every morning early her mother poured out water before the rising sun.  Her growing intelligence and keen appreciation of the blessings of civilization overreached mere animal grief at the separation from her mother.  And as she knew more of the word of God, she became more deeply interested in the condition of her race.

At the age of twenty her master emancipated her.  Naturally delicate, the severe climate of New England, and her constant application to study, began to show on her health.  Her friend and mother, for such she proved herself to be, Mrs. Wheatley, solicitous about her health, called in eminent medical counsel, who prescribed a sea-voyage.  A son of Mrs. Wheatley was about to visit England on mercantile business, and therefore took Phillis with him.  For the previous