Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-07-07

you to cry. +" g Well, air. he said "whcn
/ left home TO come here, my mother
cried when She Told Iiia good-by, and /
cried Them Yes lid the gentleman,
+" and If your mother we here now, and
could see how you are situated, she would
tell you to take your gun and go out and
do your duty AZ soldier" No, sir"
he quickly replied, "the last thing my
mother said to me was 10 be true to my
religion and ] mean TO do It." II was dur
ing his stay at Gen. Maney's headquarters
that Vestal had his interview with Gov.
Foote. Gov Foote was at that time u
member of the Confederate Congress,
representing the Nashville district, and
was candidate for re election. The sol
diers from Tennessee in the army were
allowed to vote, and the Governor was
out electioneering among the soldiers.
While at Gen. Maney's headquarters some
one pointed out Vestal to Gov. Foote, or
introduced Vestal to him, as a Quaker
who wouldn't fight, when the following
conversation occurred between them
FOote-" What, youngman, won't you
fight-yOu are a stout, good d-lookingyoung
man-is it true that you refuse to fight?"
Vestal-" Yes, sir"
Foote-" Why, you are all wrong about
that. Suppose you were to marry beau
tiful and accomplished young lady, and
some ruffian were to come into your house
and grossly insult her, wouldn't you kill
himY'
Vestal-" No, sir"
Foote dumping from his seat in very
excited manner)-" Why, I'd kill him in
q minute"
Resuming his seat after a minute, the
Governor surveyed Vestal, and again com
menced conversation with him.
Foote-" Young man, you are all wrong
about this matter, even from u Scriptural
standpoint. When Christ was upon earth
he directed his disciples to pay tribute to
Caesar. The money thus paid went into
the Roman treasury, and was used in car
rying on the wars of the Roman people"
Vestal-" No, sir; you are mistaken
about that The Temple of Janus was
closed at that time, and there were no wars
going on"
FoOte-"I I believe he knows more about
it than do. l don't know whether the
| Temple of Janus was closed then or not"
Such was substantially the interview be
tween this remarkable boy and his re-
markable man. Perhaps two more oppO-
site characters, in many particulars, never
came in contact.
Vestal was ordered to Knoxville, and
| from that place he found his way to the
Virginia army, and was assigned to one of
the Tennessee regiments. Here he was
ordered to military duty, but firmly re-
| fused, as he had done before. The Briga-
dier in command, knowing of his history
or antecedents, ordered him to be bayO-
neted for disobedience of orders, and the
bayonet was applied to him repeatedly.
He bore it with the spirit of a martyr, and
the soldiers, seeing that he would die will
lingly in preference to sacrificing his
principles, refused further to punish him.
No punishment or threats could shake the
settled purpose of his soul for a moment.
He was under arrest all the while. Ere
quently on retreats, his guard would lose
sight of him, but in day or two Vestal
would march up alone into camp.
He was afterward detained in Castle
Thunder for awhile, at Richmond, but
was finally permitted by the Secretary Of
War to 90 down to North Carolina to
school, and was there at the time the war
closed.-NdshptNe (Tenn.) Banner.