Thus it came to pass with them and with Theodore also, that to love Jesus more, and to follow more and more after him, became the sum of their religion.  With increasing years and wider experiences, their views broadened into the most comprehensive liberality, but the high worship of an infinite God, and the sweet reverence for his purest disciple never left them.

CHAPTER XVII.

In a letter to Dr. Harriot Hunt, Sarah Grimke thus describes Eagleswood:—­

“It was a most enchanting spot.  Situated on the Raritan Bay and River, just twenty-five miles from New York, and sixty miles from Philadelphia, in sight of the beautiful lower bay and of the dark Neversink Hills, all its surroundings appeal to my sense of the beautiful.  In rambles through the woods or along the shore, new charms are constantly presented.  The ever-varying face of the bay alone is a source of ceaseless enjoyment, and with the sound of its waves, sometimes dashing impetuously, sometimes murmuring softly, the eye, the ear, and the soul are filled with wonder and delight.”

In this beautiful spot a commodious stone building was erected, suitable for association purposes.  One end was divided into flats for a limited number of families; the other into school-rooms, dormitories, and parlors for social uses, while the centre contained the refectory for pupils and teachers, of whom there was an efficient corps, and dining-rooms for the other residents and their visitors.  Several families of intelligence and culture resided in the immediate neighborhood, adding much to the social life of the place.  All who were so fortunate as to be members of the Eagleswood family during Mr. Weld’s administration must often look back with the keenest pleasure to the days passed there.  It seems to me there can never be such a centre to such a circle as the Welds drew around them.  Here gathered, at different times, many of the best, the brightest, the broadest minds of the day.  Here came James G. Birney, Wm. H. Channing, Henry W. Bellows, O.B.  Frothingham, Dr. Chapin, Wm. H. Furness, Wm. Cullen Bryant, the Collyers, Horace Greeley, Gerrit Smith, Moncure D. Conway, James Freeman Clarke, Joshua R. Giddings, Youmans, and a host of others whose names were known throughout the land.  Here, too, came artists and poets for a few days’ inspiration, and weary men of business for a little rest and intellectual refreshment, and leaders of reform movements, attracted by the liberal atmosphere of the place.  Nearly all of these, invited by Mr. Weld, gave to the pupils and their families and friends, assembled in the parlors, something of themselves,—­some personal experience, perhaps, or a lecture or short essay, or an insight into their own especial work and how it was done.  The amount of pleasant and profitable instruction thus imparted was incalculable; while the after discussions and conversation were as enjoyable