Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/66

 58 Southern Historical Society Papers.

missively all that Thy sovereign wisdom and love see fit to appoint, looking forward through the sorrows and tears of a weeping world to that better day-spring when I shall behold Thy face in righteous- ness and be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness. And all I ask is for a Redeemer's sake. Amen.'*

Putting the precious volume into his bosom, he mounted his horse and led them into the battle which was to cost so many of them their lives. When the time, the place, and the actors in that scene are considered, no one can doubt that he was perfectly sincere in this religious act. It was a brave and manly confession of Christ before men, and one for which has not our blessed Lord promised to *' con- fess us before His Father and the holy angels?" While Major Wheat was incapable of professing what he did not feel, and was very far from making a parade of religious feeling, yet, as the incident just related clearly shows, he had the moral courage to avouch his convictions even to irreligious men.

From his earliest childhood he scorned, not only direct lying, but all prevarication and suppression of the truth ; refusing to associate with a schoolmate who got out of a difficulty by telling the teacher a falsehood. When about twelve years old, he met with an accident which confined him to the house, and his mother, in order to amuse him, and reconcile him to the unusual restraint, gave him " Thaddeus of Warsaw" to read. He soon became deeply interested in it, and at some very affecting scene he went to his mother weeping passion- ately as he dwelt upon the wrong done to his hero. To quiet him she said, ** This is not a true story ; it is just made up by the author." " Not true !" he exclaimed, while a burning indignation quickly dried his tears, ** and you a Christian mother, give your child lies to read !" He flung the book from him as if it were contaminating, and never could be induced to take it up again.

Some years afterwards, when a senior in college, being obliged by a serious accident to remain indoors, he was very severe upon his sisters, who were reading the ** Wandering Jew," just then coming out in weekly numbers, and who tried to interest him in it. In return for some beautiful passage of their reading, he would call out, ** Put down that foolish book, and listen to this " — something from Black - stone ; for he had already begun the study of law\ When he was going the second time to Mexico his mother put into his valise one of Dickens' last works, thinking it might serve to while away the tedious monotony of camp life. He brought it back with the leaves uncut ; said he had much more profitable reading, having procured