Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/129

122 were in camp, on first landing, he was in the habit of going out alone for hours amongst the rocks on the sea-shore, having only his Bible, which, I remember his telling me. Dr. Marsh called 'his sword.'

"As you know, of course, there was no chaplain for the English troops there. The chaplain attached to the English Legation at Athens came over to the Piræus at first to perform a short service in one of the barrack-rooms, but as soon as the sickness broke out he was not allowed to come. Part of the service was generally read on Sunday, by the officers to the men of their companies; and the officers, in rotation, took the duty, morning and evening of burying the dead, which sometimes, of our English regiment only, exceeded ten daily. Hedley Vicars undertook this duty several times for others, and seldom, if ever, performed it without adding a few earnest words to the men present. Soon after the sickness broke out he used regularly to visit the hospitals, reading and praying with the dying men, and taking every opportunity of speaking of the 'one thing needful' to others. In these visits to the hospitals he was sometimes accompanied by two or three of his brother officers, one of whom, Major Colville, has since died in the Crimea.

"With all his zeal, he was ever careful to avoid giving offence. I have known him to erase passages which seemed to speak harshly of Roman Catholics from tracts he was about to distribute generally amongst the men. Much as he abhorred Popery, he had the greatest tenderness for the feelings of Roman Catholics. His constant kindness and sympathy for all, of any creed, and whether officers or men, is not easily to be described. When others were depressed, he was always hopeful. His spirits were hardly ever cast down.

"All these things you must have heard from others. The most remarkable thing about him — his