(All-Souls-Day.)  
November 2d.
 
This day is consecrated¹ to the commemoration of the dead. Do you know, Enrico, that all you boys should, on this day, devote a thought to those who are dead? To those who have died for you,—for boys and little children. How many have died, and how many are dying continually! Have you ever reflected how many fathers have worn out their lives in toil²? how many mothers have descended³ to the grave before their time, exhausted⁴ by the privations to which they have condemned⁵ themselves for the sake of sustaining their children? Do you know how many men have planted a knife in their hearts in despair at beholding⁶ their children in misery⁷? how many women have drowned themselves or have died of sorrow, or have gone mad, through having lost a child? Think of all these dead on this day, Enrico. Think of how many schoolmistresses have died young, have pined away through the fatigues⁸ of the school, through love of the children, from whom they had not the heart to tear themselves[23] away; think of the doctors who have perished of contagious⁹ diseases, having courageously¹⁰ sacrificed themselv............