Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/328

286 not tell him at the time what she later revealed to him, that Mr. Eddy had gone to Lawrence some months before his death and inquired into Mr. Frye’s record with the possible idea of summoning him to this very position. He had anticipated his wife’s need. The Rev. Joshua Coit, Mr. Frye’s pastor in the Congregational church, had so spoken of Mr. Frye that Mr. Eddy recommended him to his wife as a man to be trusted with her intimate affairs.

Mr. Frye entered Mrs. Eddy’s household on her arrival in Boston and from that hour remained faithful in her service. There is no term that will cover the manifold duties which devolved upon him. He was usually spoken of as her private secretary because of the enormous amount of correspondence of which he relieved her. He was her bookkeeper, her purchasing agent, and her personal representative on many important occasions. Those who would make a reproach of his faithfulness have referred to him as her butler and her coachman. Indeed, he did not hesitate to occupy the box of her carriage to guard her on her daily drives.

But a few words concerning Mr. Frye’s history will correct the impression that the titles of servitude were warranted by his natural social status. The Frye family is an old one, as American ancestry goes. His grandfather and great-grandfather fought in the wars of 1812 and the Revolution. Frye village, now a part of Andover, Massachusetts, was named for his grandfather, who had a prosperous milling business there in grist and lumber. His