Page:Letters of Life.djvu/243

Rh Engrave it on your fleeting span,
 * By prayers of faith, and acts of love,

That He who reads the heart of man,
 * May note it in His Book above.

So that dread Book which none may dare
 * Unmoved, unshrinking to survey;

A bright, auspicious trace shall bear,
 * K thus ye keep this hallowed day.

Great was my rejoicing over these lovely beings. Great my glorying in them. Earnest my petitions that they might lead all the remainder of their lives according to this beginning. I trust it has been so. Cheered have I been by their course among more arduous duties and important responsibilities.

As the close of our first year approached, they sought my permission to celebrate the day on which our school commenced. With a pleasing flattery they said, "It is more to us than the Fourth of July was to our fathers. It began for us a new life." I found their plans, which had only awaited my consent, in quite a state of forwardness. From various propositions and phases of enjoyment, they had chosen a rural festival. The designated spot was a beautiful grove, on the banks of a fair stream, carpeted with a rich, dense turf. No more congenial locality could have been selected, in which to rivet the links of cherished remembrance.

Our anniversary was the 1st of August. Many