Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/396

Rh another, and taking each other's hands, they laid them upon their hearts, and sung—

With this the children all took hold of hands, and slowly moving around in a circle, repeated the while these last words, or something like them; and so doing, approached nearer and nearer together, wove their arms round each other like a garland of flowers, then sank upon their knees, singing the while a hymn, the first verse of which was—

Whilst singing this hymn, and while still upon their knees, the children all kissed each other, after which they rose up and separated. The beautiful symbolic meaning contained in the whole game, its simplicity, and the beautiful grace with which it was performed; the thought of the difference in the spirit of this game to the bitter reality of many a solitary existence in the great community of the world, affected me deeply; I could not refrain from weeping. Mrs. S. was also very much affected. From this moment the Shaker-sisters were our friends and sisters, and embraced us with the greatest cordiality. Another beautiful song, worthy of serious attention, was sung very well by the children. It began “Speak gently,” and showed in several stanzas the effect of a gentle word. A song it was which all children ought to learn, and all grown people commit to memory.

It was an unexpected thing to me to meet with children