634 LEAVES THEY HAVE TOUCHED. 



safe place, where such, waifs and strays will be likely, notwithstand- 

 ing their comparative insignificance and want of connection, to be 

 noted with consideration, and find sympathetic perusers " meet 

 though few." I think a degree of virtue adheres to " leaves that 

 have been touched " by highly-gifted and remarkable persons. 

 Examining such remains ; contemplating pages which have engaged 

 the attention — words, and marks and signs that have come fresh from 

 the hands — of the wise, the good, the brave, while here yet warm with 

 life, we grasp their character now and then, from unexpected and 

 important points of view, and occasionally realize more perfectly our 

 brotherhood with them as men. Moreover, by such means too, I 

 think the love of historical study may here and there be deepened, 

 and an ambition perhaps awakened to make researches in the Past 

 by the help of original documents, whenever the chance for doing so 

 may be presented. 



