"I have now resumed my duties as a Sophomore, in faith in Him who has ever been my best friend. If I can prepare myself for acting well my part in life by going through the college curriculum, I shall be satisfied. "I shall ever acknowledge with gratitude that the Children's Aid Society has been the instrument of my elevation. "To be taken from the gutters of New York city and placed in a college is almost a miracle. "I am not an exception either. Wm. F----, who was taken West during the war, in a letter received from W---- College, dated Oct. 7, writes thus: 'I have heard that you were studying for the ministry, so am I. I have a long time yet before I enter the field, but I am young and at the right age to begin.' My prayer is that the Society may be amplified to greater usefulness. Yours very truly, "JOHN G. B." ONCE A NEW YORK PAUPER, NOW A WESTERN FARMER C----, Mich., Oct. 26, 1871. "MR. J. MACY: _"Dear Sir_--I received your very kind and welcome letter a few days since, and I assure you that I felt very much rejoiced to know that you felt that same interest in hearing and knowing how your Western boys and girls get along, as you have expressed in former times. "In your letter you spoke of the time you accompanied our company of boys to the West as not seeming so long to you as it really was. For my own part, if I could not look to the very many pleasant scenes that it has been my privilege to enjoy while I have been in the West, I do not think it would seem so long to me since we all marched two and two for the boat up the Hudson River on our route for Michigan. There were some among us who shed a few tears as we were leaving the city, as we all expected, for the last time. But as we sped on and saw new sights, we very willingly forgot the city with all its dusty atmosphere and temptations and wickedness, for the country all around us was clothed in its richest foliage; the birds were singing their sweetest songs, and all nature seemed praising our Heavenly Father in high notes of joy. "In the midst of this enchantment we were introduced to the farmers in the vicinity of A----, and then and there we many of us separated to go home with those kind friends, and mould the character of our future life.