the fervor and ardor of youth, seeking and serving this,
the best of masters; devoting your best affections to Him who sticketh
closer, under every trial, than parent or friend."

I will quote another short extract from a letter dated "St.
Louis, March 3d, 1848." In giving an account of a revival of religion,
naming the number of persons who were about to unite with the Second
Presbyterian church, he says: "How delighted would I be, could I see
dear daughter a bright Christian, devoting all her powers and energies
to the service of the blessed Saviour! How much more important is it
to be educated to shine in Heaven than to be a star in this world of
sorrow and affliction, where there is no solid enjoyment, and where all
is transitory and evanescent. I pray that you may be led to a wise
choice in these things."

As soon as the winter months were over--becoming impatient under
such a long separation--we determined to cut short our stay in the
"Sunny South." The greatly improved health of her for whose sake the
sacrifice had been made, was ever afterwards a cause of gratulation.

In April we returned to St. Louis, with joyous anticipations of
the future. The darling of our hearts was fast blooming into
womanhood. Her father had purchased the residence which my brother had
built for his own use, and which, above all others, we preferred,
(especially as it was near to that of his aged mother), and we hoped
before long to be permanently settled.

But as this letter has reached its full length, I will close it,
with the best love poor grandma has to offer from her desolate and
stricken heart.

Letter Thirteen

My Dear Grandchildren:

In the summer of 1848 your beloved grandfather, to whom no
discharge of duty in the Church of God was felt to be a sacrifice,
again determined to change his church connection. A feeble little
church, painting for existence, without a pastor or house to worship
in, solicited help from the mother church. Every Christian felt that
the increasing wants of our growing city demanded more churches, but
how many in the Second Presbyterian could obtain their own consent to
exchange the comfort and ease of this elegant temple, which at length,
after much self-denial of its members, was almost free from debt, and
whose pulpit was adorned with the gifted and talented Dr. Potts! who
could give up their cushioned and carpeted pews, the choice choir, the
grand organ, and the man