Rear’d by fair gratitude’s persuasive call,
Rest the remains of innocence, and youth;
Esteem’d, lamented, and beloved by all.
Fond of retirement, and of rural ease,
Her sober wishes never loved to stray.
Heaven was her aim, her study, how to please,
And carefully improve each fleeting day;
To worth, a friend; a parent to the poor.
Such was the woman! could the saint be more?’
After the death of her mother, the care of Hannah, and of a younger sister, devolved on Elizabeth, who was the oldest daughter. They now lived in great retirement; and one of Miss Adams’s early employments was, weaving lace with bobbins on a cushion. In referring to this, she afterwards pleasantly observed, that, ‘it was much more profitable than writing books.’ This manner of life, with her desultory habits of reading, gave a romantic and enthusiastic turn to her mind, which was never essentially changed either by time or circumstances.