Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/164

 expense she provided the fittings for trucks constructed so as to enable the cattle to eat and drink on the road to London, and such trucks are now in general use on all the great railroads.

In all these widely varied schemes she was a thoughtful and conscientious worker. On coming into possession of her wealth in 1837, she began a life of studious and systematic beneficence, giving largely, not to one particular favorite scheme of charity, but to many and widely-differing objects; and not indiscriminately, but considerately, by keeping statistics of work accomplished and to be accomplished, and gathering innumerable facts with painstaking care, that her noble deeds might not fail of their intention. This method of action she never abandoned. The evil effects usually attending lavish gifts, such as injuring the self-reliance and self-respect of recipients or encouraging pauperism, she avoided as far as possible by most vigilant and continuous supervision.

Miss Coutts' private charities it is of course impossible to estimate; but they are known to have been large. She has always been a liberal and discriminating patron of music, painting, and the drama. She possesses many valuable works of art, selected with excellent taste and judgment, and arranged in the most favorable manner. The entertainments given at her house have been frequently graced by the presence and talents of the best actors and singers of the day, while the conversation has been of the animated kind that occurs when artists, authors, men of science, and men of the world mingle freely in discussion or exchange interesting glimpses of their different professions and experiences. Her hospitality has been at times upon the most generous scale. Upon one occasion she gave a dinner party (one of the largest upon record) to two thousand Belgian volunteers, who were invited to meet the Prince and