376 



Till". GLIDE TO NATURE 



WJ *^mi L -'l'H » .»-». J-i--^'* " -"V-g^"- 'J-!' "J'U' "■- ",^."-<t *Z. 



Has Lived Near to Nature. 



Though now more than one hundred 

 years of age, Captain William H. David- 

 son every morning takes a long walk be- 

 fore breakfast through fields and forests 

 and along picturesque roads, in commu- 

 nion with nature. 



On November 26, 1910, his comrades 

 and friends at The Soldiers' Home at 

 Xoroton, Connecticut, celebrated his one 

 hundredth birthday. He read without the 

 aid of glasses an extended selection from 

 the Gospel of St. John, beginning, "Let 

 not your heart be troubled." He gave 

 an account of his life, telling that he was 

 born in South Dover, Dutchess County, 

 New York ; was educated at the Bateman 



Academy, and later at the Theological 

 Seminary at Poughkeepsie. He was a 

 missionary in the Sandwich Islands, and 

 a soldier in the Civil War. He has trav- 

 eled in many foreign lands. 



He has always been especially fond of 

 walking. "The Daily Advocate" of 

 Stamford says: 



"Only three years ago, the Captain was 

 a familiar figure on his early morning 

 walks. He would think nothing of walk- 

 ing around the square to Glenbrook, at a 

 good brisk stride, before breakfast. Two 

 years ago on Memorial Day, he marched 

 with the other soldiers to the cemetery, 

 and helped decorate the graves of his 

 former comrades, and he stood the march 

 as well as any." 



ONE HUNDRED V EARS OLD, HE PREACHED A SERMON, HIMSELF THE BEST TEXT AND 



SERMON THAT COULD BE PREACHED ON "NEARNESS TO NATURE." 



On his right is the youngest member of his regiment. 



