Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-08-13

ed gold. Regulus was the soul of Ro-
man honor, and accepted exile and death
to infamy. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
gave his royal fortune to relieve the poor
of his empire. Peter the Great was IL
lustrious for his pride of country, and
laid the foundations of Russias present
greatness. Frederick of Prussia was a
soldier prince, the renown of which his
| tory has preserved a memorial. But
, this foremost American possessed all
these and other virtues in happy combi-
nation; not like single gems, brilliant by
isolation, but like jewels in crown of
glory, united by the golden band of a
completer character.
"Our greatest yet with least pretense,
Great in council and great in war,
Foremost captain of his time,
Rich in saving common sense,
And, as the greatest only are,
In his simplicity sublime"
As he was the typical American,
should we he surprised to find that his
was the typical American home? May
we lift the curtain, and look upon the
privacy of that once unbroken house
hold? o. the mutual and reciprocal
love of welded life within those sacred
precincts. Husband and wife the happy
supplement of each other, their charac-
ters blending in sweetest harmony like
the blended colors in the bow of prom+
ise. He, strength, dignity and courage;
she. gentleness, grace and purity. He,
the doric column to sustain; she, the
Corinthian column to beautify. He, the
oak to support; she, ivy to entwiHe. In
their life of deathless love, their happi
ness lay like An ocean of pearls and dia-
monds IN the embrace of the future.
He, unhappy without her presence; she,
desolate without his society. She, pure,
high-minded, discriminating, ardent, low
ing, intelligent; he cOnfded to her his
innermost soul and blest her with his
best and unfailing love. She shared his
trials and his triumph; his sorrows and
JOYS: his tolls and his rewards. How
tender was that scene, in the early dawn
of that April day, when all thought the
long-exp ected end had come, he gave her
his watch and tenderly caressed her
hand. 1t was all the great soldier had
to give to the wife of his youth. And
the dying hero whispered: 81 did not
have you wait upon me, because L knew
it would distress you; but now the end
draws nigh" And out from the swell
ings of Jordan he rushed back to the
shore of life to write his tender message
to his son: Wherever l am buried,
promise me that your mother shall be
buried by my side" 1t is all a wife
could ask; it is all husband could wish.
Did she seek to divert his mind
from his sufferings by recalling the vic
tories of the past? He replied: This
is the anniversary of the battle of VickS-
burg, that is fact. l bad not thought
of it before. 1t has been an important
anniversary to US on two other occasions
-one when our only daughter was born,
and subsequent to Vicksburg, when we
had a grandson born on that day.
Was hers laudable desire that the
Forthcoming Memoirs should be iHscrib-
ed to her? Yet she surrendered her
claim to the magnanimity that inspired
him to write: 'It is great deal better
that it should be dedicated as it is. l
made what reputation l have as a SOL
dier. The troops engaged on both sides
are yet living. AS it is, the dedication
is to those We fought against, as we'll as
those we fought with. 1t may serve
purpose in restoring harmony. If it
does, it is of more Importance than to
crafty little vanity. You will die; it
is hoped tue book will live. After you
and the soldiers who fought are all gone,
the dedication will have more value
than now"
And such was the tenderness of his
love and solicitude for her and hers he
surprised her by letter found after his
death. 1t came as message to her from
him after he had gone. When his spirit
had returned to the God who gave it,
there was found secreted in his robe, his
last letter to her. enveloped, sealed and
addressed. He had written it betimes;
written it secretly, and carried the sa-
cred missive day after day during four
teen days, knowing that she would find
it at last In it he poured forth his soul
in love for her and solicitude for their
children:
Look after our dear children and dit
rect them in the paths of rectitude. 1t
would distress me far more to think that
one of them could depart from an hon
orahle, upright and virtuous life, than
it would TO know that they were pros
trated on bed of sickness, from which
they were never to arise alive. They
have never given us any cause for alarm
on their account, and l earnestly pray
they never will.
"With these few injunctions and the
knowledge have of your love and af-
fection, and of the dutiful affection of
all our children. L bid you final fare
well, until we meet in another, and
trust. better world. You will lind this
on my person after my demise.
''Mt. McGregor, July 8, 1885,
Here the speaker elaborated with
forcible eloquence on the religious life
of the General. showing that he was a
devout believer and man of prayer.
He is gone, but shall death defeat a
purpose so beneficent? Is he not might
ier in his death than in his life? What
home has not felt the sympathetic chord
touched by the invisible hand Of his ter
rible but patient suffering? How the
embers of sectional strife have died out
on the hearthstone of the nationl How |