"The dignity of labor" is a phrase we have often heard repeated in
modern life, but it was one unnecessary to be spoken by Celia Thaxter.
It may easily be said of her that one of the finest lessons she
unconsciously taught was not only the value of labor, but the joy of
doing things well. The necessities of her position, as I have already
indicated, demanded a great deal, but she responded to the need with a
readiness and generosity great enough to extort admiration from those
who knew her. How much she contributed to the comfort of the lives of
those she loved at the Shoals we have endeavored to show; how
beautiful her garden was there, in the summer, all the world could
see; but at one period there was also a farm at Kittery Point, to be
made beautiful and comfortable by her industry, where one of her sons
still lives; and a _pied a terre_ in Boston or in Portsmouth,
whither she came in the winter with her eldest son, who was especially
dependent upon her love and care: and all these changes demanded much
of her time and strength.
She was certainly one of the busiest women in the world. Writing from
Kittery Point September 6, 1880, she says: "It is divinely lovely
here, and the house is charming. I have brought a servant over from
the hotel, and it is a blessing to be able to make them all
comfortable; to set them down in the charming dining-room overlooking
the smooth, curved crescent of sandy beach, with the long rollers
breaking white, and the shoals looming on the far sea-line.
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