Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/223

Rh "Poor fellow! he chose the Psalms and Lessons for the preceding day (the Day of Humiliation), and read this service, when several of us met to worship God. All present must have noticed the fervour of his manner. Little did we think he was so soon to be numbered with the dead.

"Let us not sorrow for our beloved brother as those without hope. We have a good and sure hope, nay, a firm faith, that we shall meet again.

"May God comfort you all."

The following letter was written to a mother, without any idea on the part of the writer that the sorrowing hearts of Hedley Vicars' relatives and friends would be warmed and comforted by its overflowing affection to his memory:

— This is a dark and sorrowful day with me; my heart is wrung, my eyes red and hot with crying. I feel gloomy and sorrowful altogether. My very dear friend Vicars was killed last night! The Russians made a sortie; and, while gallantly leading on a handful of our men, to charge them outside our works, he was mortally wounded by a ball striking his right breast. He died soon after, and is now enjoying a glorious rest in the presence of his Saviour. I do not pity him. What more could we wish for him? He was fully prepared for the most sudden death, and he died bravely fighting and doing his duty. But my heart bleeds for the loss of my dearest friend, and for the sake of his poor mother and family.

"Such a death became such a life — and such a soldier. The most gallant, the most cheerful, the happiest, the most universally respected officer, and the most consistent Christian soldier, has been taken from us by that bullet; and I know not how to live without him. He was my truest friend, my most cheerful companion, and my friendly adviser on all occasions. But, as his sergeant remarked, bitterly, this morning, 'He was too good to live.'