marry the woman he had so faithfully loved.
After a few brief days hi his home, he left it, never
to return, speeding on his way to serve his country's
needs.
If this new zest entered his life at this time, we
can easily imagine as he fared on, striving to arouse
his countrymen to their duty as patriots, that the
happiest hours of his life were urging him forward
to the most perfect service he could render in the
present, and to unlimited hopes and ambitions for
the future he might well expect was awaiting him.
Crowned by human love, and with unlimited opportunities
to serve his country, who can tell by
what "vision splendid" he was "on his way attended"?
Who can help rejoicing that such days,
brief as they were, and uplifting as they must have
been, were given to this man, now past twenty?
Details concerning that trip are scanty. We
know for a certainty that, starting from camp
December 23, 1775, he returned to it the last week
in January, 1776, having been in New London
and other places seeking recruits, and going back
with the recruits he himself had secured, joined
by others coming from the various towns in
Connecticut, and all heading toward the camp
around Boston.
He received his commission as captain in the
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