Oh, ye fathers and mothers, who weep in sorrow today because some darling has been taken from your earthly homes; did you realize how tenderly your loved one is cared for, into what a beautiful school your child has entered, to prepare him or her to become a glorious messenger of life and light and peace to the weary and the sad, you would not mourn, but rather rejoice that you have been permitted to offer up to the service of the Lord such a beautiful and pure missionary of love. These spiritual lyceums, unlike your earthly gatherings of like import, convene daily; and the children and leaders, in constant association with each other, grow so in harmony together in sympathy and love, that they become a perfect whole, each one fitting naturally and beautifully into his or her place; and hence are enabled to perform an unequalled amount of good for humanity; and I have found that to these bands of holy angels, together with the efforts of the red race,—our Indian brothers,—belongs the credit of swinging back the pearly gates of immortal life, and setting them forever ajar, for the benefit of those who linger yet in mortal clay. A GOLDEN-CHAIN RECITATION. I would like to give you a specimen of the golden-chain recitations I listened to at the lyceum of Spring Garden City. The Guardian of the school recited the first line; the teachers of the various groups or classes followed on, in concert, with the second line; then the children of the first group recited the third line; the scholars of the second group the fourth line; and so on, until all had taken part in the exercise and become impressed with its beauty and devotional tendency; when all joined in the recitation of the last four lines. Spirit of Life and Love! To thee our souls we bring, And lay them on Thy Fount of Truth, Our purest offering. Spirit of endless Peace! Who worketh all things well, To Thee our soul’s divinest praise In songs of gladness swell. God of the wise and good! Who rules by perfect law, Thy vast creations show thy power Without a single flaw. The storms and tempests sweep Impurities away, And after darkness brightly shines The golden light of day. The green fruit and the sour Are but unripened good, And every crude, imperfect life, When rightly understood, Will teach the human soul Progression’s deathless power To beautify the living form With perfect fruit and flower.