Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/213

Rh Thus the last word he ever wrote was the name he loved best. The name which is above every name; and which doubtless was the first to spring from his soul, in the fulness of adoration and praise, as he entered into the presence of the King Eternal. One other fragment was found in his desk. It was addressed to her whom he loved with the full power of a true and manly heart; yet does it speak of joy and gladness from another source than that most tender love. Like the first disciples, of whom it is said that they, not seeing the Lord Jesus, yet rejoiced in Him "with joy unspeakable, and full of glory," Hedley Vicars, led by the same Spirit, seems at this time almost to have tasted the first draught of that fountain of the water of life, whose streams make glad the City of God. In the full strength of his youth, yet actually on the verge of another world, his last words came to us with a power beyond that of death-bed sayings. Such a tone of absolute satisfaction is seldom heard in this world of unsatisfied longings.

"The greater part of another month is past, and here I am still kept by the protecting arm of the Almighty from all harm. I have been in many a danger by night and day since I last wrote to you, my own beloved; but the Lord has delivered me from them all, and not only so, but he has likewise kept me in perfect peace, and made me glad with the light of His countenance. In Jesus I find all I want of happiness or enjoyment, and as week after week, and month after month roll by I believe He is becoming more and more lovely in my eyes, and precious to my soul."

Twenty-four hours more and his eyes had seen "the in His beauty."