terests of humanity. There must be a noble pride in their great sorrow. I am sure they would not exchange their dead son for any living one." By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. From Letters of Lydia Maria Child, by Whittier. ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO A MOTHER WHO HAD LOST FIVE SONS IN THE CIVIL WAR Nov. 21 '64. Mrs. Bixby, Boston. Dear Madam :— I have been shown in the files of the War department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I can not refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By permission of the Century Company. XIII. LETTERS OF FAREWELL G. W. CURTIS TO J. R. LOWELL, JUST APPOINTED MINISTER TO SPAIN My dear James: ASHFIELD, July 9, 1877. I must not let you go without a word of love and farewell, although I have meant to write you a letter. I told Charles that on every ground, except that you go away, I am delighted that you are going. With me the case is very different. I happen to be just in the position where I can be of infinitely greater service to the good old cause, and to the administration that is meaning and trying to advance it, than I could possibly be abroad. Nothing has done this administration more good, nor rejoiced so many hearts as your appointment. You will be blown on to your castles in Spain by a whirlwind of benedictions. Affectionately yours, By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. G. W. C. JOHN BROWN'S LAST LETTER TO HIS FAMILY CHARLESTOWN PRISON, JEFFERSON Co., VA., My Dear Beloved Wife, Sons and Daughters, Every As I now begin, probably what is the last letter I shall ever write to any of you, I conclude to write to all at the same time. I am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure of mind and cheerfulness; feeling the strong assurance that in no other possible way could I be used to so much advantage to the cause of God and humanity, and that nothing that either I or my family have sacrificed or suffered will be lost. The reflection that a wise and merciful as well as a just and holy God rules not only the affairs of this world but of all worlds, is a rock to set our feet upon under all circumstances. I have now no doubt but that our seeming disaster will ultimately result in a most glorious success. So, my dear shattered and broken family, be of good cheer, and believe and trust in God with all your heart and with all your soul; for He doeth all things well. To God and the work of his grace I commend you all. Your affectionate husband and father, By permission of Little, Brown & Co. JOHN BROWN. ROBERT GOULD SHAW'S GOOD-BY TO HIS FATHER, IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE My Dear Father: STATEN ISLAND, April 18, 1861. When you get home you will hear why I am not here to receive you. Badly as I feel at going before you come, it seems the only way, unless I give it up altogether, which you could not wish any more than I. You shall hear from me as often as I possibly can write, if only a few words at a time. We go to-morrow afternoon, and hope to be in Washington the following day. I want very much to go; and with me, as with most of the others, the only hard part is leaving our friends. God bless you all, dear father. Excuse the shortness of this farewell note. [ROBERT SHAW.] XIV. SPECIAL LETTERS FOR ARBOR DAY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE H. BENEDICT, ELMIRA, N. Y., FOR ARBOR DAY, Dear Sir: EIGHTY-NINE WEST NEW BRIGHTON, STATEN ISLAND, I am very glad that you propose fitting observance of Arbor Day, which I think may be easily made one of the most interesting of our holidays. There is probably not one of the pupils in your school who has not a fondness for pet animals, for horses, dogs, cats, squirrels, rabbits, and the charm lies largely in its life and its dependence upon its master. Arbor Day will enlarge this friendly relation, so as to include trees. They too are living and for their proper growth and development they will depend largely upon the care and intelligence of the boys and girls who are interested in them. This interest will be fostered as in the care of the pet animals by the individual relation between the trees and those who plant them. It will be stimulated by the names to be given to the trees, and by the desire to honor distinguished men and women and by carefully tending the trees that bear their names. All this will gradually lead inevitably to special knowledge of the structure, character, growth and uses of trees, to enjoyment of the allusions to them in literature, and their association with historical events, like the Charter Oak in Hartford, and Sir Philip Sidney's oak at Penshurst, which was planted at his birth and which Ben Jonson and Edmund Waller commemorated, and the Abbot's oak, and William the Conqueror's oak at Windsor Park. With this will come a keener interest in the significance of trees and plants in national usages, and in popular belief and proverbs, "There's rosemary, that's remembrance." To be clad in mourning was to wear the Willow. Old Fuller, the English worthy, calls the willow a sad tree, and the forsaken lover sang, |