Chapter I: Introduction: By the English Editor 5

Abby's Year in Lowell 21

The First Wedding in Salmagundi 28

"Bless, and curse not" 32

Ancient Poetry 33

The Spirit of Discontent 36

The Whortleberry Excursion 38

The Western Antiquities 43

The Fig Tree 45

Village Pastors 49

The Sugar-Making Excursion 61

Prejudice against Labor 65

Joan of Arc 73

Susan Miller 81

Scenes on the Merrimac 92

The First Bells 100

Evening before Pay-Day 108

The Indian Pledge 118

The First Dish of Tea 120

Leisure Hours of the Mill Girls 122

The Tomb of Washington 136

Life among Farmers 138

A Weaver's Reverie 147

Our Duty to Strangers 150

Elder Isaac Townsend 152

Harriet Greenough 153

Fancy 161

The Widow's Son 163

Witchcraft 167

Cleaning Up 170

Visits to the Shakers 172

The Lock of Gray Hair 178

Lament of the little Hunchback 183

This World is not our Home 185

Dignity of Labor 187

The Village Chronicle 188

Ambition and Contentment 197

A Conversation on Physiology 199