ine  such  dishes  as  I  think  fit  while  I  live,  and  when  I  die
thou  knowest  I  have  left  thee  all.'  "  There  is  no  evidence
that  his  wife  rendered  him  literary  assistance.  Perhaps,
as  she  looked  so  thoroughly  to  his  material  comfort,  her
function  was  held,  by  tacit  agreement,  to  end  there.
As  casual  visitors,  or  volunteer  readers,  were  not  always
in  the  way,  and  a  hired  servant  who  could  not  spell  Latin
was  of  very  restricted  use,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  Milton
should  look  to  his  daughters,  as  they  grew  up,  to  take  a
share  in  supplying  his  voracious  demand  for  intellectual
food.  Anne,  the  eldest,  though  she  had  handsome  features,
was  deformed  and  had  an  impediment  in  her  speech,  which
made  her  unavailable  as  a  reader.  The  other  two,  Mary
and  Deborah,  might  now  have  been  of  inestimable  service
to  their  father,  had  their  dispositions  led  them  to  adapt
themselves  to  his  needs,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  house.
