276 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



was obliged to resign it. Her appeals for contributions from 

 Cambridge, issued yearly in the form of leaflets, by their 

 simplicity, directness, and freedom from sentimentality 

 were effective at the time and are still interesting. Her own 

 enthusiasm for the work among the children of the Kinder- 

 garten appears in the following letter. 



TO MRS. CORNELIUS CONWAY FELTON 



Cambridge [May 7, 1894] 



. . . THE other day Alice Longfellow and I had a 

 pleasant morning together; we drove over to the 

 Kindergarten for the Blind and were wonderstruck, 

 as one always is, however often he may have seen it, 

 with the skilful work and the seeming enjoyment of 

 these children. There are classes of little boys of seven 

 or eight who are as versed in Longfellow's poetry as 

 any children of real eyes could be. When Alice came 

 in and they were told who it was, their faces grew 

 radiant. They asked if they might recite something 

 from her father's poems. The teacher seemed to think 

 they would not remember on such a sudden call, but 

 they were sure they could, and they recited eight or 

 ten together, the "Blacksmith" (in chorus) without a 

 mistake and with such sweet and intelligent expres- 

 sions that you could not hear it without emotion. The 

 teacher told me that last year (with Alice's permis- 

 sion) she took them to Craigie House. Alice was not 

 at home, but they wanted to come in and look about. 

 When they came to the old clock on the stairs, she 

 said the children were touched as by some very sacred 



