an intentional value for him, was one of the happiest days of his
whole existence. I do not know that he expected anything or
speculated on what might await him hereafter; he put his future,
just as he put his past and his present, in the hands of God, to
Whom he committed himself "as unto a faithful Creator."






THE ALTAR FIRE





September 8, 1888.


We came back yesterday, after a very prosperous time at Zermatt;
we have been there two entire months. Yes, it was certainly
prosperous! We had delicious weather, and I have seen a number of
pleasant people. I have done a great deal of walking, I have read a
lot of novels and old poetry, I have sate about a good deal in the
open air; but I do not really like Switzerland; there are of course
an abundance of noble wide-hung views, but there are few vignettes,
little on which the mind and heart dwell with an intimate and
familiar satisfaction. Those airy pinnacles of toppling rocks,
those sheets of slanted snow, those ice-bound crags--there is a