Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/126

Rh I can say, 'I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

"We are quartered here with the French, who have upwards of 4,000 men. They are in tents; we are now in barracks. The weather is very hot, and the climate bad. We are now in quarantine, as the cholera has broken out amongst the French. They have lost two officers and one hundred men. We have not lost a man; but it is a solemn time, and loudly calls upon each of us, 'Prepare to meet thy God.'

"I feel very much being debarred from the means of grace and from the communion of the Lord's people; but Jesus more than makes up for every loss. There have been happy moments, when He has been very near, and when I felt that I should wish to depart and be with Him."

To the same beloved and honoured friend (of whom, with every member of his family, Hedley Vicars ever retained the most affectionate remembrance) he had previously addressed these words, which forcibly expressed the deliberate choice of his soul:

"I would not, for all the world could give me, go back to my former state. I have gained immeasurably more than I have given. In exchange for fleeting pleasures now, I have hopes of lasting joys, which mortal eye hath never seen, nor ear heard of, nor heart can conceive, I have been brought into friendship with God, through the merits and precious bloodshedding of my Redeemer and the influence of the Holy Ghost. And in place of an aching heart, I have tasted of a peace which passeth understanding."

Hedley Vicars was now to enter on the most solemn period of his life. To those who watch the