Page:Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow.djvu/606

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580 SUPPLEMENT. returned once within that time. Very many of our relatives and friends have "gone the way of all the earth" since we left, and everything of remembrance has yielded to the strokes of the battle axe of changeful Time. Our former loved associates Have mostly passed away; While those we knew as children Are crowned with locks of gray. We saw Time's varied traces Were deep on every hand Indeed, upon the people, More marked than on the land. The hands that once with firmness Could grasp the axe and blade, Now move with trembling motion, By strength of nerve decayed. The change in form and feature And furrows on the cheek Of Time's increasing volume, In plain, round numbers speak. And thus, as in a mirror's Reflection, we were told, With stereotyped impressions, The fact of growing old. Those of our relatives and acquaintances who remain received us with affectionate cordiality; indeed it was one continued ovation, from first to last, through the counties of Portage, Geauga, Cuyahoga and Loraine, where we went; even children born since we left that country came dis- tances to see and converse with us, the former friends of their deceased parents. Having been so long abroad, we felt anxious to return home; at the same time, being desirous of seeing as many of our friends and relatives as possible, we visited night and day, going from place to place in rapid succession. I am inclined to think that so much visiting was never before done in so little time. We succeeded in gathering many genealogies both of the dead and the living; and we think, in many instances, have renewed friendships, revived and created associations that will extend into eternity. We feel that God is with us, and humbly trust that His blessing will attend our efforts. ELIZA R. SNOW.