Poor is he, and beggar, that hath no friends at all. GRACIAN. The face of an old friend is like a ray of sunshine through dark and gloomy clouds. A. LINCOLN. The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. SHAKESPEARE. And can true friendship be tested, if not in the hour of misfortune? The Mayor of St. Petersburg to Clara Barton. WHEN CARES GROW HEAVY AND PLEASURES LIGHT It became incumbent upon Clara Barton to write tens of thousands of autographs, and inscriptions in books. As a philosopher, many such inscriptions are interesting and instructive. Characteristic of her is the following inscription which she wrote in a book presented to a personal friend: My Dear General and Friend: When life’s track has grown long, and the road bed flinty and hard; when the cares grow heavy and the pleasures light; and the tired soul reaches out for help, may you find those who will be as loyal and faithful to you as you have ever been to me. Fraternally, CLARA BARTON. You have bound yourself so closely round my heart, Friend of mine, That it seems as if our paths could never part, Friend of mine! Oft the vine forsakes the wall Stars have e’en been known to fall, You are not like star nor vine, Friend of mine! LXXV The Red Cross Organization has been built up largely by the heroic work of Clara Barton. FREDERICK H. GILLETT, Chairman (1900) House Committee on Foreign Relations; now Speaker of the House of Representatives. Honor to whom honor is due. ST. PAUL. Never did an organization select so wisely and elect so judiciously as did the National Red Cross Association when it chose Clara Barton to preside over its beneficent work. Johnstown (Pa.) _Democrat_. In Cuba, the Red Cross Society snatched thousands from the grave and made the sufferings of other thousands much lighter. But for Clara Barton America would today have been a stranger to the Red Cross and its beneficent work. DOCTOR HENRY M. LATHROP. Author of “_Under the Red Cross; or the Spanish-American War_.” Miss Barton’s well-known ability, her long devotion to the noble work of extending relief to suffering in different lands, as well as her highest character as a woman, commend her to the highest consideration and good will of all people. PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY.