Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/234

224 not take them. I have got his fur coal, in which the poor fellow was shot, which I am keeping in memory of one of the dearest friends I ever had. He has been a heavy loss to all, but at the same time we can't help envying him the glorious way in which he fell, and the certainty of his now being so much happier, and in a better place than this wretched world of sin and sorrow."

From one of those soldiers of the 97th who fought their way through the ranks of the Russians, as they closed round Captainn Vicars when he fell. The writer is a Roman Catholic:

" — I hope you will excuse the liberty I take in acknowledging the receipt of your very kind note of the 20th May, 1855, and its enclosure of half a sovereign; also the handsome good book you were so kind as to send me. I am sure I have not done anything to deserve such kindness; what I have done in striving to save the late beloved Captain Vicars any one soldier in the Regiment would have done, for he was beloved by all who knew him. His constant care was the best way he could contribute to the comfort of all under his command. As our Adjutant, he was loved by every one in the Regiment, and, as Captain of No. 4 Company, he was more so by his Company. There is scarcely a man in the Regiment who would not have gladly laid down his life to save his; and we all feel sorrow when we think of our victory on the 22d of March, on account of his loss.

"I am sorry that I cannot express my thanks for your kind wishes and your handsome present, a book not much read by the humble classes of my persuasion; but your book I will read and study, so that I might become worthy to meet your beloved friend, and our no less beloved friend in glory.

"The letter you so kindly sent me I am sending to my mother, for fear that, through its smallness, I might lose it; and it it should please the Lord to take me, I have given directions to have the Bible sent also. It is not for the intrinsic value that I prize them. No! it is the pride I