DA 


68 





ILIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 

# • I 

I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^ 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE 



CAPTAIN HEDLEY VICARS. 



^hxtb^z^ from t^t 9'^moix. 



By rev. T. N. HASKELL. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

28 CoRNHiLL, Boston. 



TO SOLDIERS. -GOOD ADVICE. 



The following good advice to volunteers is given by 
''An Old Soldier." 

1. Kemeniber that in a campaign more men die 
from sickness than by the bullet. 

2. Line your blanket Avith one thickness of 
brown drilling. This adds but four ounces in 
■weight, and doubles the Avarmth. 

3. Buy a small India rubber blanket (only $1.50) 
to lay on the ground, or to throw over your shoul- 
ders -when on guard duty during a rain storm. 
Most of the eastern troops are provided -with these. 
Straw to lie upon is not always to be had. 

4. Tlie best military hat in use is the light col- 
ored soft felt, the crown being suiEciently high to 
allow space for air over the brain. You can fasten 
it up as a continental in foir weather, or turn it 
down when it is wet or very sunny. 

5. Let your bcaid grow, so as to protect the 
throat and hmgs. 

6. Keep your entire person clean ; this prevents 
fevers and bowel complaints in warm climates. 
Wash your body each day, if possible. Avoid 
strong coffee and oily meat. General Scott said 
that the too free use of these (together with neg- 
lect in keeping the skin clean) cost many a soldier 
his life in ^lexico. 

7. A sudden check of perspiration by chilly or 
night air often causes fever and death. When 
thus exposed, do not forget your blanket. 



f 



PREFACE 



The United States Soldier will be inter- 
ested in this brief memoir of the young, 
valiant, and pious Vicars. Although a Brit- 
ish officer, his example is worthy of imita- 
tion by the true soldier in any land, and 
especially in America. The " mother coun- 
try " is our copartner in the advancement of 
an evangelical civilization ; and any public 
life in one is in som.e respects the property 
of both. The following pages are an abridg- 
ment of a larger Avork, published by Messrs. 
Carter & Brothers, and are gathered, (from 
what was wholly interesting,) that in this 
compact form they may be more readily cir- 
culated in the army. Praying that the me- 
moir may increase the moral courage and 
promote the spiritual w^elfare of our soldiers 
in the present crisis of our beloved country, 
the compiler sends it forth on its mission. 

T. N. H. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Boyhood 5 

II. The Awakening 12 

III. Conversion 16 

IV. Diary 34 

V. Home 45 

VI. War and the Hospital 57 

VII. Winter before Sebastopol 76 

VIII. The Day-star rises 85 

IX. Victory and Death 88 

(4) 



SKETCH. 



BOYHOOD. 



Hedley S. J. Vicars was born in the 
Mauritius, December 7, 1826. He was of 
the family of Don Vicaro, a Spanish cavalier 
who came to England in the suite of Cath- 
arine of Arragon, and settled in Ireland 
early in the sixteenth century. 

When he was twelve years old, his father's 
dying hand was laid upon his head, with 
the earnest prayer "that he might be a good 
soldier of Jesus Christ, and so fight man- 
fully under his banner as to glorify his holy 
name." 

From this time Hedley's love for his 
mother gradually deepened into that peculiar 
form of protecting tenderness which seems 

(5) 



6 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



the prerogative of a widow's son, and there 
grew up with his growth an almost feminine 
gentleness and a sensitive regard for the 
feelings of others, which, combined with sin- 
gular strength and steadfastness of charac- 
ter, rendered the friendship of his matured 
manhood so precious to those who had the 
privilege of enjoying it. 

He did not love study, and his habits in 
this respect, while at school at Woolwich, 
prevented him from acquiring the distinc- 
tion necessary to secure a commission in 
the Engineers or Artillery. This was seri- 
ously regretted by him in after life, not 
alone because he thus deprived himself of 
a more advantageous branch of the service, 
but also on account of time wasted, which 
had been given him so to use that he might 
finally render his account of it w ith joy. 

In the spring of 1844, he commenced his 
military career by joining the depot of the 
97th regiment in the Isle of Wight. He 
was an ardent lover of his profession, and 
from first to last was devoted to its duties. 



BOYHOOD. 



In writing to his mother an account of his 
first review, with its fatigues of marching, 
skirmishing, and firing, he adds, with boyish 
pride, " But my zeal for the service kept 
me up." 

In the autumn of that year he returned 
home to take leave of his family. His eld- 
est sister well remembers his joyous bearing 
as he first exhibited himself to them in the 
queen's uniform, and her own admiration of 
the bright, intelligent countenance, broad 
shoulders, and well-knit, athletic figure of 
her young soldier-brother. A few weeks 
afterward he sailed for Corfu, — now fairly 
launched in the world, and in a profession 
beset with temptations. 

He had a pleasant and prosperous voyage 
out, with his usual activity lending a help- 
ing hand to the sailors in the work of the 
ship, and winning their hearts by his genial 
manners. His letters to his family were 
now less frequent than ever before or after- 
ward, and at this period of his life his reck- 
less disposition often led him into scenes of 



LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



wliicli his conscience disapproved, and to 
excesses which, though never matured into 
habits, and, by the grace of God, early and 
for ever abandoned, were afterward the 
subject of bitter and humiliating remem- 
brance. In reference to this he wrote to a 
young friend in 1854, " You will be spared 
poignant remorse in after years by remem- 
bering your Creator in the days of your 
youth. I speak from heartfelt experience. 
I would give worlds, if I had them, to undo 
what I have done." 

Again he writes to his mother, " I see it 
all now. It is I that have caused your ill- 
ness, my darling mother. Ever since the 
receipt of your last letter I have been in a 
dreadful state of mind. I feel that I deserve 
God's severest punishment for my undutiful 
conduct toward the fondest of mothers ; but 
the excruciating thought had never before 
occurred to me that he might think fit to 
remove her from me. Oh, what agony I 
have endured ! what sleepless nights I have 
passed since the perusal of that letter ! The 



BOYHOOD. 



review of my past life, especially the retro- 
spect of the last two years, has at last quite 
startled me, and at the same time disgusted 
me. You will now see the surest sign of 
repentance in my future conduct ; and be- 
lieve me, that never, as far as in me lies, 
shall another moment's anxiety be caused 
you by your dutiful and now rej^entant 
son." 

In the depth of his penitence for his er- 
rors toward an earthly parent — called 
forth by the patient bearing of her forgiv- 
ing love — do we not see the foreshadowing 
of that prostration of soul with which he 
humbled himself, when once the kindness 
and long-suffering of his God and Saviour 
were manifested to him in the fullness of 
redeeming love ? And thus it was first 
through the raising of his moral nature, by 
means of the holiest affections of man's 
heart, that he was eventually, after many 
a fall and rising again, to be drawn up into 
the higher life of fellowship with the Father 
and with his Son Jesus Christ. 



10 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



The depth and tenderness of his feelings 
at this time are well spoken again in the fol- 
loAving letter to his mother : — 

" My darling Mother : I do love you, 
and that fondly, although I have often (and 
may God Almighty forgive me !) rebelled 
against your wishes. 

" Mother, I ask your forgiveness for what 
has passed. You know not what real an- 
guish some of your letters have caused me ; 
and although I have tried to drown the 
voice of conscience, after reading them, a 
still small voice has always been whisper- 
ing in my ear, and kept me from commit- 
ting many a sin. * * * " 

In writing, at the same time, to his sister, 
he alludes to forebodings of an early death 
occasionally coming across him, and wishes 
he were " prepared." 

" I am no coward, but the thought of 
death is solemn, and the idea of dying far 
away from home, with no fond mother or 



BOYHOOD. 11 



sister to give me comfort in my last mo- 
ments, is sad enough. Yet I hope the 
effect of these reflections is wholesome, and 
will make me consider seriously whether 
I am fit to die." 

About this time, in a letter to one of his 

sisters, he says, — 

"You did not mean to give me pain, 
dearest Mary ; but in the same letter in 
which you tell me of my mother's illness, 
why did you remind me of those strange 
huffs in which I used to indulge, which 
may well make a son ashamed as he re- 
members them ? * * * 

" Give my tender love to my darling 
mother, and tell her I received a lock of 
her hair and another of yours, and am 
going to get a small locket for each of 
them, and shall wear them round my neck 
as a talisman. Darling Mary, I think more 
of those two locks of hair than of any thing 
else in my possession." 



12 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



II. 

THE A\VAKENINa. 

During the year 1850 a more serious 
tone began to be discernible in his letters ; 
a longing for something higher than he had 
hitherto reached — a conviction of sin before 
God, " sin worthy of eternal punishment," 
with a desire to " enter on a state of pre- 
paredness for death and eternity." But his 
condition is that of one wandering in a lab- 
yrinth, and the clew to the way home is not 
yet found. He feels the force of tempta- 
tion, laments the dread of his companions' 
ridicule, and confesses his own utter inabil- 
ity to turn to God, whilst entreating his 
mother's prayers that the Holy Spiiit may 
be poured out upon him. 

We have now come to the close of his 
life of general recklessness, checkered, and 
of late frequently, with strong religious im- 



THE AWAKENING. 13 



pressions — convictions of sin, which re- 
sulted in vigorous though short-lived efforts 
at reform. Of this portion of his life, a 
valued friend of his, then belonging to the 
97th, has lately written the following short 
notice : — 

" From the first day I saw Vicars at 
Zante, in 1846, 1 was struck with his manly 
air, and the peculiar, open truthfulness of 
his eye. He was at this time quite taken 
up with the gayeties of the island. We 
quitted for Malta, whence, in 1848, w^e 
sailed for Jamaica. During the voyage he 
used to dress as a sailor, and delight in 
making himself useful to the crew. In 
Jamaica he had the advantages of attend- 
ing an excellent ministry, and of witnessing 
the beauty of consistent religious character 
in the family of Dr. M'llree, the surgeon 
of the 97th, Avhich had their effect upon 
him. But this all passed away on his 
being withdrawn from these influences, by 
being ordered to the Lowlands to sit on 



14 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



court-martial, where lie was again led away 
by unavoidable association with ungodly 
companions. At this time, as I afterward 
heard from his own lips, he totally neglected 
prayer and the reading of the Bible, and 
consequently lost the power of resisting 
temptation. A long period elapsed before 
a second conviction arose, and this appeared 
to be sudden, and lasted till he left Jamaica. 
He frequently came to me for prayer and, 
the study of the Scriptures, either at my 
own quarters or at a brother officer's." 

The 97th left Jamaica for Halifax, Nova 
Scotia, in June, 1851. Almost immediately 
after landing, he was ordered to Canada, to 
take charge of volunteers for a regiment 
there. It was in the autumn of this year 
that he visited the Falls of Niagara, and his 
journal is written with deep and enthusiastic 
delight, describing his increasing excitement 
from the moment when he first distinguished 
the distant roar of the waters to that which 
'•^filled him with sublime and awful joy 



THE AAVAKENING. 15 



wlieu they first broke upon his sight." He 
expresses his belief that no one could be an 
atheist whilst beholding the majestic power 
of God as displayed in the stupenduous mag- 
nificence of those Falls ; and while return- 
ing day after day to refresh and solemnize 
his spirit there, he realizes with i^enewed 
earnestness the sinfulness of wasting life in 
a mere search after pleasure, and is im- 
pressed with the importance of having a 
fixed aim of sufficient strength to be a lever 
to his life. Self-interest, he has found, even 
when calculated upon with the reckoning of 
eternity, is not strong enough at all times to 
raise a man above the dominion of his own 
inclinations. He knew not yet " the expul- 
sive power of a new affection," for he had 
not learned to say, " The love of Christ con- 
straineth me." 



16 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



III. 

CONVERSION. 

" To be awakened,'^ writes one who well 
knew the difference between convictions and 
conversion^ "you need to know your own 
heart. To be saved, you need to know the 
heart of God and of Christ." 

Hitherto Hedley Vicars had been the 
subject only of the aivahening work of the 
Spirit. In later days, when he looked back 
on that period of his life, he distinctly stated, 
" I was not then converted to GodP He was 
seeking, but he had not found, " the grace of 
life." Thank God ! there is no such ask- 
ing eye directed upward, to which he does 
not, sooner or later, " reveal his Son." 
After all his anxious alarms, which had 
resulted in efforts succeeded by failures, he 
was now to be tau2;ht that the streno-th to 



CONVERSION. 17 



persevere would be found, when the God 
of hope should have "filled him with all joy 
and peace in believing ; " and that he was 
to continue " diligent to be found of him in 
peace,'' as the one way of being " without 
spot and blameless." 

It was in the month of November, 1851, 
that while awaiting the return of a brother 
officer to his room, he idly turned over the 
leaves of a Bible which lay on the table. 
The words caught his eye, " The blood of 
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all 
sin." Closing the book, he said, " If this be 
true for me, henceforth I will live, by the 
grace of God, as a man should live who has 
been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ." 

That night he scarcely slept, pondering 
in his heart whether it were presumptuous 
or not to claim an interest in those words. 
During those wakeful hours he was watched, 
we can not doubt, with deep and loving in- 
terest, by One who never slumbereth nor 
sleepeth ; and it was said of him in heaven, 
" Behold, he prayeth." 
2 



18 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



In answer to those prayers, he was ena- 
bled to believe, as he arose in the morning, 
that the message of peace was " true for 
him," — "a faithful saying, and worthy of 
all acceptation." " Th6 past," he said, 
" then, is blotted out. What I have to do 
is, to go forward. I can not return to the 
sins from which my Saviour has cleansed 
me with his own blood." 

On the morning which succeeded that 
memorable night, he bought a large Bible, 
and placed it open on the table in his sit- 
ting room, determining that " an open Bi- 
ble " for the future should be " his colors." 
" It was to speak for me," he said, " before 
I was strong enough to speak for myself." 
His friends came as usual to his rooms, and 
did not altogether fancy the new colors. 
One remarked that he had " turned Meth- 
odist," and, w^tli a shrug, retreated. An- 
other ventured on the bolder measure of 
warning him not to become a hypocrite : 
" Bad as you were, I never thought you 
would come to this, old fellow." So, for 



CONVERSION. 19 



the most part, for a time his quarters were 
deserted by his late companions. During 
six or seven months he had to encounter no 
slight opposition at mess, "and had hard 
work," as he said, " to stand his ground." 
But the promise did not fail, " The right- 
eous shall hold on his way, and he that 
hath clean hands shall wax stronger and 
stronger." 

All this time he found great comfort in 
the society of a few brother officers who 
were walking with God, but especially in 
the faithful preaching of the gospel of Jesus 
Christ by Dr. Twining, garrison chaplain at 
Halifax, and in the personal friendship of 
that man of God, which he enjoyed uninter- 
ruptedly from that time until the day of his 
deatli. Under so deep an obligation did he 
consider himself to Dr. Twining, that he 
frequently referred to him as his spiritual 
father ; and to his scriptural preaching and 
teaching, and blessed example of " walking 
with God," may doubtless be traced, under 
the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, those 



20 LIFE OF IIEDLEY VICARS. 



clear and happy views of religion, and that 
consistency and holiness of life, which suc- 
ceeded his conversion. 

We learn, from a letter recently quoted,* 
that from this time his Conversation grew 
daily more deeply spiritual, and that he lost 
no opportunity of attending every public 
service in Dr. Twining's church, and his 
Bible classes for officers, soldiers, and those 
in hospital. His rapid growth in knowledge 
and grace is mainly attributed to the instruc- 
tion and profit gained at these classes, by a 
senior officer in the 97th, whose friendship 
he deeply valued.f 

A heart so large and loving by nature as 
that of Hedley Vicars can scarcely accept 
the open invitation to come to Jesus for par- 
don, peace, and eternal life, without giving 
him an immediate response to the injunc- 
tion, " Let him that heareth say, Come." 
Accordingly he began to teach in a Sabbath 

* From Charles Cay, Esq., aBsistant surgeon, Cold- 
stream Guards, late of the 97th. 
t Lieutenant Colonel Ingram. 



CONVERSION. 21 



school, to visit tlie sick, and to take every 
opportunity of reading the Scriptures and 
praying with the men singly. Of three of 
these, whom he describes as "once great 
sinners, nearly as bad as myself," he could 
soon say confidently that they had followed 
him in turning to God. At the same time 
he was also the means of awakening some 
of his brother officers to make the earnest 
inquiry, " What must I do to be saved ? " 

" As he felt he had been much forgiven," 
writes the friend before alluded to, " so in 
proportion was the ever-burning and in- 
creasing love to Him whom he had so long 
grieved by his sins. Much grace was given 
him to confess Jesus boldly before others ; 
and when he was adjutant, his example and 
his rehuhes to the men for swearing carried 
great weight, and showed his zeal for the 
honor of God." 

The adjutancy of his regiment was offered 
to him by his colonel, in the spring of that 
year, (1852,) with these flattering words : 
" Vicars, you are the man I can best trust 



22 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



with responsibility." This appointment ap- 
pears to have given universal satisfaction 
amongst officers and men, although one of 
the officers remarked, jestingly, " He won't 
do for it — he is too conscientious." 

This conscientiousness was not only 
evinced in his military, but also in his pri- 
vate life. Every amusement which he 
found to be injurious in its effect on his 
spiritual condition, was cheerfully relin- 
quished. In a letter to his eldest sister, he 
inquires her opinion of balls and other pub- 
lic entertainments, and adds, " I have of 
late refused every invitation to such amuse- 
ments, on finding they made me less earnest 
and thoughtful, and indisposed me for read- 
ing and prayer." 

We find his growth in grace indicated in 
the following letter : — 

To Miss Vicars. 

''April 29, 1852. 
" 1,Iy darling Mary : I am going on 
much in the same manner as usual, with 



CONVEKSION. 23 

nothing to disturb the even tenor of my 
way. But no ; I must correct myself here, 
for I trust that I have really turned over a 
new leaf, and that my heart is gradually but 
surely undergoing a purifying process. 

"I have been figliting hard against rin. 
I mean, not only what the world under- 
stands by that term, but against the power 
of it in my heart ; the conflict has been 
severe — it is so still ; but I trust, by the 
help of God, that I shall finally obtain the 
mastery. What I pray for most constantly 
is, that I may be enabled to see more clear- 
ly the wicked state of my heart by nature, 
and thus to feel my greater need of an Al- 
mighty Saviour. You can not imagine what 
doubts and torments assail my mind at times, 
how torn and harassed I am by sinful thoughts 
and want of faith. 

" You, Mary, can never experience my 
feelings, for you know not in what a sinful 
state my life has been passed. Well may I 
call myself ' the chief of sinners.' I some- 
times even add to my sins, by doubting the 



24 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



efficacy of Christ's atonement, and the 
cleansing power of his precious blood to 
wash away my sins. Oh that I could re- 
alize to myself more fully that his blood 
' cleanseth us from all sin ! ' 

" I was always foremost and daring 
enough in sin. Would that I could show 
the same spirit in the cause of religion ; 
would that I felt as little fear of being 
called and thought to be a Christian as I 
used to feel of being enlisted against Chris- 
tianity. 

' Am I a soldier of the Cross, 
A follower of the Lamb, 
And shall I fear to own his cause, 
Or blush to speak his name ? ' 

" I trust I am beginning to see and feel 
the folly and vanity of the world and all its 
pleasures, and that I have at length entered 
the strait gate, and am traveling the narrow 
road that leadeth unto eternal life. Let us 
not trust in our own righteousness, which is 
but as ' filthy rags,' but let us trust entirely 
in the merits and blood of our blessed Sa- 



CONVERSION. 25 



viour. I never can sufficiently show my 
gratitude to God, who has shown such long- 
sufFering forbearance toward me, — who has 
spared me through so many scenes of sin 
and folly. 

" I am sorry to say that poor Lieutenant 

J is in a very precarious state ; even 

if he recovers, he will never have the use 
of his leg. I go sometimes to sit with him, 
and endeavor to bring to his mind the things 
which belong to his everlasting peace. He 
said to me one day, ' Vicars, tell me, do you 
really feel happier 7iow than you did ? ' 
Poor fellow ! he is in a very desponding 
state of mind. 

" I generally spend four or five hours 
each day, when not on duty, in reading the 
Bible, and meditation and prayer, and take 
a walk every afternoon for a couple of 
hours. 

" Pray for me, and believe me, I never 
tbrget to pray for you all. How little we 
do to show our love for that Saviour who 
agonized on the cross for our sakes ! 



26 LIFE OF HEDLEY TICARS. 



' Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 
Save in the cross of Christ my God ; 
All the vain things that charm me most, 
I sacrifice them to his blood.' 

" Adieu, my dearest Maiy ; and always 
remember me as 

" Your affectionate and attached brother, 
" Hedley." 

To his brother he writes, — 

"il/ay 13, 1852. 

"We all have our temjDtations, and in 
scarcely any profession could they more 
beset the Christian beginner than in the 
army. 

" But let us remember, whatever be our 
calling, God has promised that we shall not 
be tempted above that we are able to bear. 
Only let us feel that we are unable of oui*- 
selves to resist evil, or to do any thing good; 
let us look to Christ, and trust in him alone, 
and take up our cross and follow him. 

" You will, perhaps, be surprised, as you 
read this letter, at the change which has 
come over me. Yes, I believe and feel that 



CONVERSION. 27 



I am a changed man ; that I have taken the 
important step of declaring on whose side I 
will be. Oh that I could persuade you to 
enroll yourself with me on the side of Jesus 
Christ ! 

" As Newton says, ' I know what the world 
can do, and what it can not do.' It can not 
give or take away that peace of God which 
passeth all understanding. It can not soothe 
the wounded conscience, nor enable us to 
meet death with comfort. I have tried both 
services. For twenty-four years have I 
lived under the thralldom of sin, led by the 
devil. None need despair of being wel- 
comed by the Saviour when he has par- 
doned and brought to repentance such a 
sinner as I have been. The retrospect of 
my past life is now miserable to me ; yet 
before I was taught by the Spirit of God, I 
thought and called it a life o^ pleasure. The 
very name, when applied to sin, now makes 
my heart sicken. Even then I never could 
enjoy recalling the occupations of each day ; 
and think you my conscience was quiet ? 



28 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



No, though again and again I stifled it, as 
too many do. Bitter experience has taught 
me that ' there is no peace to the wicked.' 
Blessed be God, I know now that I am par- 
doned and reconciled to God, through the 
death of his Son. How happy is the Chris- 
tian's life when he has this assurance ! " 

A letter, dated June 23, 1852, indicates 
his steady progress in the new course : — 

" My darling Mother : If you look 
out you will probably see my name in the 
Gazette in a fortnight or so, as the colonel 
sends the recommendation home by this 
mail. My worldly prospects will soon be 
considerably improved. What reason I 
have to be thankful to Him who, notwith- 
standing my utter unworthiness, has been 
so kind and merciful to me ! Oh that I felt 
more love and gratitude to him ! I trust, 
my dear mother, that in the performance of 
the arduous duties of an adjutant, I may 
never neglect the more important duties of 
a Christian, and that I may do all to the 



CONVERSION. 29 



glory of God. How amply shall I be re- 
paid if even one of my fellow-soldiers is 
brought by my example and advice, as a 
means in the hand of God, to a saving 
knowledge of his mercies in Christ. I must 
be prepared to meet with much discourage- 
ment from ignorance and hardness of heart, 
but I will endeavor to do my duty and leave 
the issue to God, remembering the words — 
* Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but it 
is God alone who giveth the increase.' 

" Poor J 's leg was amputated above 

the knee on Saturday. He is now getting 
on well, poor fellow. I am delighted to say 
I firmly believe that his suffering illness 
has, through the blessing of God, been made 
the means of the conversion of his immortal 
soul. 

" Four or five of my brother ofiicers at- 
tend Dr. Twining's Bible class. One of 
them has, I trust, been truly converted. 
He was, like myself, about the last in the 
regiment one would ever have thought like- 
ly to become religious ; but God's ways are 



30 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our 
thoughts. I trust his example may do 
much good. It is grievous to see how lit- 
tle regard men pay to the salvation of their 
never-dying souls. But I must ever re- 
member that I was once like them, and 
worse ; and that it is only through the grace 
of God that I am now different." 

The same earnest tone pervades all his 
letters during the remainder of his residence 
in Nova Scotia. We find allusions to con- 
flicts and difficulties in overcoming tempta- 
tions and establishing a new course of life. 
" But I know it must be done, and in 
God's strength it shall be," is ever the 
conclusion. 

Newton's " Cardiphonia " was a book 
which at this time afforded him much help 
and consolation : — 

" Do send for it, if you have never yet 
read it. I get great comfort from his let- 
ters, for they show that every believer is 
exposed to the same temptations and trials, 



CONVERSION. 31 



in a greater or less degree, and that his life 
is one of continual warfare. Does not even 
St. Paul tell us that he had a constant con- 
flict of conscience against inclination, of the 
desire to do right against the promptings 
of evil?" 

Extracts from a letter written by Dr. 
Twining to Captain Vicars' eldest sister, 
upon receiving the intelligence of his death, 
may find a place most appropriately here, 
as they give a sketch of this period of his 
life : — 

"Halifax, May 21, 1855. 

" When I first knew Captain 

Vicars he was 'walking according to the 
course of this world.' He had, as he told 
me, been under strong convictions in the 
AYest Indies, and attended religious meet- 
ings ; but trusting in his own resolutions, 
and not in the Saviour's strength, he had 
fallen again under the power of temptation. 
There was something very attractive in his 
appearance, and I asked him to meet with a 



LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



few officers and others at my house to join 
in reading the Scriptures, conversation, and 
prayer. He came at once, and never failed 
to attend regularly. It was soon evident 
that he took a deep interest in the matter. 
He became a teacher in my Sunday school, 
and attended a Bible class which I had es- 
tablished on Sunday evening for soldiers, 
and another during the week for soldiers' 
wives ; this he did to encourage the men 
and women of his regiment to come. He 
and Mr. Nash always spent Sunday even- 
ing at my house, as they never dined at the 
regimental mess on that day. He told me 
of all his trials, and we often knelt together 
in my little study, laying them all open be- 
fore a throne of grace. It was evident, as 
time passed on, that he was growing in 
knowledge, in grace, in consistency, in firm- 
ness, in Christian experience. 

" His was a lovely character ; it was im- 
possible to know him and not love him ; 
every creature about my house did love 
him. He had to suffer a fiery persecution 



CONVERSION. 33 



from some of the officers of his regiment. 
The Lord saw that it was best, and made it 
a means of strengthening and confirming 
him in the faith. 

" He took part in all efforts amongst us 
in the Redeemer's cause to win souls to 
him. For example, the Naval and Mili- 
tary Bible Society, City Missions, on the 
plan of those at home, and a society for 
giving the Scriptures in their own language 
to the Mic-mac Indians — the aborigines of 
this country. Of these societies he was a 
member, and his memory is now warmly 
cherished by those with whom he was a 
fellow-laborer in these causes." 
3 



34 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICAKS. 



IV. 

DIARY. 

From his diary, kept daily with con- 
scientious regularity and faithfulness, wfi 
give the following brief extracts : — v^;:,. 

^'July 3c?, 1852.— Rode out to visit Brunt, 
a poor ordnance laborer. Read and prayed 
with him for nearly an hour. He appeal's 
to be very ill; but all his hopes are. fixed 
on Christ. -..cif^^^^i^^yy^:^,. 

" Sunday, Ath. — Read a chapter of Bo- 
gatsky this morning. Unrefreshed after 
morning prayer. Instructed my class at 
the Sunday school. Thoughts wandering 
during divine service. Read and prayed 
with Corporal Cranny, 42d regiment, for 
nearly an hour. A bright specimen of a 
dying Christian. There were eighteen of 
us at Dr. Twininsr's class in the eveninof. 



DIARY. 35 



" 6^/^. — Engaged at orderly-room work, 
and rubbing-up drill. My mind more at 
peace than it is generally. I was with 
Jones for a short time in the evening. I 
told him I had been to see Cranny and 
Brunt. I am afraid I did so with the idea 
that I should be thought well of. I must 
strive much against self-righteousness. Let 
me always endeavor to feel that, having done 
all, I am but an unprofitable servant. 

" ^th. — Awoke sleepy and dull, but after 
prayer felt much happier. Lost my temper 
once or twice with the men. I feel I am 
unable of myself to do any thing aright. 
Read Luke 15 : with Cranny, and prayed. 
Afterward read and prayed with Brunt. 
In the evening I became unhappy from 
thoughts of all my former sins. 

" 11th.-— In a very happy state of mind 
after prayer ; still the merest trifles distract 
my mind. I attended the temperance meet- 
ing in iXiQ, evening, when I was delighted to 
see about sixty soldiers of the 97th. I wish 
the whole regiment would join. 



36 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



" 18th. — AYent to the Sunday school. In 
the evening we had sixteen officers and men 
at the class in the hospital. Went to church 
afterward. Text — ' Create in me a clean 
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit with- 
in me.' Oh, do thou grant me this for Jesus 
Christ's sake. 

" 2Qth. — Spoke to Hylyard and two 
others this morning about religion. I 
believe Hylyard to be truly converted. 
He was with poor Brunt last night. He 
could not speak. He is probably dead 
now, poor fellow ! If so, I trust that his 
soul is now with the 'spirits of just men 
made perfect.' 

" 2Sth. — Was preserved, iii answer to my 
prayer, from an evil temper at drill. Oh, 
my God, grant it may always be so ! Read 
and prayed with poor Brunt. Four of the 
97th soldiers came in, and sat down. I have 
great hopes of all. I was enabled to speak 
to them pretty freely. 

^'August 24:th. — My mind more composed 
to-day than usual. I must have a regular 



DIARY. 37 



system of reading the Scriptures every day. 
Psalm in the morning, Gospel in the after- 
noon, and Epistle in the evening. Did 
wrong in the evening in laughing at poor 

. I must give up teasing him, for it 

is un- Christian-like. O God, give me thy 
Holy Spirit to enable me to overcome this 
habit ! 

" 26^/^. — I begin to see more clearly 
every day the depravity of my heart. I 
would that I could do two things — never 
speak about myself, and never speak evil 
of any one. 

" 21th. — Have had happy thoughts of 
Christ to-day. Oh, what cause have I to 
love him ! O God, I would devote myself 
to thee for ever ! I want chiefly grace to 
look out of myself, to look to Christ alone. 
The missionary M' Gordon came to me in 
the evening. He is a very good man. 

" ^Oth. — Had thoughts of unbelief this 
morning. Spoke to Langford and Wilcox ; 
hope what I said to them may prove, 
througli God's Ijlessing, of some good. I 



38 LIFE OF HEDLEY VIOAKS. 



feel that pride is one of my most besetting 
sins. Oh that I had a humble spirit ! O 
God, undeserving as I am, grant me more 
of thy Holy Spirit ! 

" September 2d. — I hate just come from 
seeing poor Brunt's corpse. I went there 
to read with him, and found him in his 
coffin. Oh, how my heart smote me ! It 
is ten days since I last read with him. For- 
give me, my God, this, and give me thy 
Holy Spirit to sanctify me more and more 
for thy service. 

'•''October 19^A. — Got up at half-past six. 
Grievously distressed with thoughts of my 
great sins. O God, th#w art of purer eyes 
than to behold my iniquity ; yet for thy dear 
Son's sake forgive me ail my sins. 

" 2^th. — Remained in bed till eight o'clock. 
Must give up this slothfulness. Had not 
time to read my chapter till twelve o'clock, 
all owing to love of sleep. At mess scarce- 
ly any thoughts of Jesus ; slight symptoms 
of a desire to return to flie world and sin. 

" November hth. — Rose at seven o'clock. 



CtAllY.- ■ 39 



Would that I could fix my waking tlioiiglits 
on Jesus ! How few are the moments I 
think of him to those in which I forget him ! 
Walked with Desmond and Nash. Kirkby 
wrote me a letter thanking me for bringing 
him back to trust in Jesus. He talks of his 
sins. Little does he know the sinner he 
talks to. 

" Ibth. — Received the reports of the 
Mic-mac Missionary Society ; rathei* proud 
at seeing my name in the list of subscri- 
bers. When shall I conquer this detesta- 
ble pride ? 

" 1 Qth. — At the class offered up a few 
ejaculatory prayers to Him who seeth in 
secret. Walked out with Dr. Twining — 
spoke very profitably together about our 
precious Saviour. I told him what just 
came into my mind, namely, that I lost at 
Corfu the Bible my mother gave me about 
seven years ago, and after being about five 
years without any, I purchased a small one 
at Jamaica, I think, but of so indistinct a 
print that I could scarcely read it. I cer- 



40 LIFE OF IIEDLEY VICARS. 



tainly rarely did. O God, may I redeem 
tlie time that may yet be left me. I shall 
keep my diary in another book to-morrow, 
and make out a few rules to go by." 

Winter. 
"Rise every morning at seven o'clock. 
Meditate on a text whilst dressing. From 
eight to nine, read a chapter in the Old 
Testament, and prayer. From nine to ten, 
breakfast, and read newspaper, or any light 
book, carefully avoiding novels. From ten 
to one, orderly-room work. From one to 
half past two, a chapter in the Gospels, and 
prayer. From half past two to four, orderly- 
room woik. Fi'om four to six, exercise, vis- 
iting sick people, &c. Offer up a short 
prayer, before going to mess, that God 
would keep me from temptation. After 
dinner, oifer up a prayer to God first ; then 
read books of general interest ; and give an 
hour to my Bible and prayer before going 
to bed ; and, oh, I beseech thee, my heav- 
enly Father, to enable me thus to devote 



DIARY. 41 



the remainder of my days to tlice ! May 
my motto be, ' Not slothful in business, but 
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' " 

" November l^th. — Rose at seven o'clock. 
Meditated, whilst dressing, on ' Ye must be 
born again.' Oh, how happy I am when I 
can fix my thoughts on Jesus ! Much en- 
gaged during the day in orderly-room work. 
In the afternoon spoke, for a short time, to 
Hylyard. Whilst on my way to the mess, 
thought on that text, 'There is therefore 
now no condemnation to them which are in 
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, 
but after the Spirit.' During dinner, rather 
too much given to levity. Gave a dollar to 
a district charity. I do not know that I 
gave it in a right spirit. I know I look 
too much to what the world may say of me 
if I do not give. Oh that I may do all 
tilings with a single eye. to the glory of 
God. Evening prayer distracted. Oh 
that I could shut out the M^orld ! that I 
could banish my own evil heart when at 



42 LIFE OF BHEDtEY VICARS. 



prayer! How sweet would then, be my 
communion vritli God! Read 2 Thess. 2 :. 
" 22fZ. — Endeavored to meditate, whilst 
dressing, on 'My soul longeth, yea, even 
fainteth, for the courts of the Lord ; my 
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living 
God.* Alas, my soul, how different it is 

with thee ! Mr. called to ask me if 

I would become a district visitor, to which 
I agreed. Met Dr, Twining, on my return 

from walking, and told him that Mr. 

had asked me to become a visitor. He dis- 
approved of it, and said that my duty was 
to devote my spare time to the soldiers of 
my regiment. I feel that I have not been 
suthciently earnest in this of late. Gh, let 
me start once again in the path of my own 
Christian duty, laboring alone from love 
to Christ, and praying always for his bless- 
ing on whatever I may undertake. May I 
never omit earnest prayer for all those in 
whom I may perceive any sign of grace, 
and never despair of the hardest-hearted 
sinner, remembering what I once was. 



DIARY. - 43 



^^ January 9fh, 1853. — Dr. Twining wrote 
me a note to say that as he was not well, he 
could not come to the class, but requested 
me to attend for him. Read 1 Peter 2 : and 
prayed that God Avould assist me to expound 
it to the men. I felt very nervous about 
praying before so many, there being about 
twenty-four present, and several of my 
brother officers. God did assist me, and I 
was enabled to pray, I trust, from my heart. 

" 18th. — This has been the first day since 
I made my rules, that I have forgotten to 
pray at noon as well as at morning and 
night. Jesus, forgive me ! and grant that 
as this is the first, so it may be the last time 
that I neglect to pray to thee, the hearer 
and answerer of prayer. 

" 2od, — Lord Jesus, I would 

give myself up to be led by thee in all 
things. Give me greater energy and zeal 
in the performance of my temporal duties. 
Enable me to please my colonel, and yet to 
please thee. 

'^ April 24:tli. — Heard a very good ser- 



44 LIFE OF HEDLEY YICAKS. 



mon from ' Whosoever shall be ashamed of 
me and my words, of him shall the Son of 
man be ashamed when he shall come in his 
own glory, and in his Father's, and of the 
holy angels.' Oh, does - not this but too 
truly api:)ly to me ? Am I not often afraid 
of confessing Christ before men ? O Jesus, 
make me to care less for the opinion of man, 
and more, far more, of what thou thinkest ! 
O Jesus, may the remembrance of my hav- 
ing again approached thy table, and renewed 
my vows to thee, cause me to live closer to 
thee for the rest of my life ; and do thou, 
blessed Spirit, warm this cold heart of 
mine ! " 



HOME. 45 



HOME. 

" True to the kindred points of lieaven and home." 

Wordsworth. 

The 97tli landed in England in the month 
of May, 1853, and went into barracks at 
Walmer. Shortly after his arrival, Hedley 
Vicars wrote the following letter, which is 
characteristic of the warmth of his gratitude 
for spiritual benefit : — 

To Dr. Tavining. 

" Walmer Barracks, June 8, 1853. 

"My very dear Dr. Twining : When 
I wished you farewell from the deck of the 
Simoon, I felt that I was parting with my 
best earthly friend. 

" I can not express the gratitude I feel 
toward you as being the instrument in 
God's hands of my conversion. May he 



46 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICAKS. 



reward you scveftfold. Oh, what would I 
not give to have met you in my earlier 
years ! 

" I was in the full career of vice when I 
arrived in Halifax. It was your preacliing, 
brought home with saving power to my 
heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, 
which stopped me ; and I am, I trust, at 
length brought out of darkness to light, 
and from ignorance of God to a knowledge 
of his ways. 

" I would thank you, my dear Dr. Twin- 
ingj from the bottom of my heart, for all the 
good advice and counsel you have ever so 
kindly given me. I can show my gratitude 
in one way, and I know you will value it : 
I have not bent my knees before the throne 
of grace for many a month without remem- 
bering you, nor shall you ever want my poor 
prayers. I trust that you may be made in- 
strumental in the conversion of many more 
souls. Continue, as you' have hitherto done, 
to hnoio nothing hut Jesus Christ and him 
crucified, and ijoii must be successful. No 



HOME. 47 



other preaching will he of any avail, nor 
afford one ray of comfort to him ivho knows 
himself to he a lost and undone sinner. 

" I have not time to write more. I have 
not yet been able to get leave to see my 
mother, though I have not , seen her for 
nearly nine years. Ever believe me, yoiu'S 

with sincerest esteem xind regard, 

" Hedley Vicars." .. 

On the same day lie responds to the ex- 
pression of his mother's earnest longing to 
see his face, in these words : ■ — 

" It gives me much pain,, my own dearest 
mother, to be obliged again to disappoint 
you, but it can not be helped. Your letters 
breathe such love and anxiety to see me, 
that :I feel half inclined to desert ! " 

The long-desired leave came at last, and 
on the evening of the' loth of' June, he ar- 
rived unexpectedly at hoine whilst his fam- 
ily were at clmrcli attending a week-day 
service. The joy of that meeting was one 
with which a stranger intermeddicth not. 



48 LIFE OF IIEDLEY VICAKS. 



To the family and friends of Hedley Vic- 
ars, the year which followed his return 
home was one of interest and happiness of 
no common kind. The heart of his wid- 
owed mother " sang for joy " as she marked 
" the exceeding grace of God in him," and 
his sisters and brothers found him to be at 
once a cheerful companion, a faithful friend, 
and a wise adviser. 

lie shared his sisters' pursuits with ani- 
mated interest. His sunshiny temper and 
buoyant spirits made him the idol of his 
sister's children, and endless was the num- 
ber of stories which entranced his young 
auditors in the long summer twilight, or by 
the cheerful winter fireside — stories impro- 
vised for the occasion, concerning wander- 
ing adventurers in "foreign parts," or dead 
heroes of bygone wars ; leaders of forlorn 
hopes, who triumphed over unheard-of dif- 
ticulties, and died amidst unimaginable sue- 
^3ses. The very sight of his face seemed 
'^nal for cheerfulness. 
> walked in the glorious liberty of the 



HOME. 49 



sons of God, and with the free heart of a 
child enjoyed every pleasure in the gift of 
which he cDuld trace his Father's hand ; yet 
was there still the evidence in his daily life 
of a chastened and sobered spirit, and of his 
steadfast obedience to his Master's word — 
" Watch and pray." 

" It was something so very new and pre- 
cious," said one of his sisters, "to have a 
tender brother who gave one the loving pro- 
tection of a father, and the faithful counsel 
of a friend ! " Daily did they gather round 
him for the study of the word of God, and 
for holy conversation and prayer. 

That this tender interest in their best wel- 
fare was sustained in absence, will be seen 
by his letters written at this period ; — 

To Miss Vicars. 

'•Walmer, Juhj 4, 1853. 

" My dearest Mary : I received your 

letter on Friday last, and began to answer 

it yesterday, but could not finish it. Oh, 

my beloved sister, how I love to hear you 

4 



5^0 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



speak about Christ ! I am sure many 
Christians deprive themselves of much real 
benefit and assistance by withholding com- 
munion with each other. "We can not ex- 
pect to reach j^erfection in righteousness, 
dearest Mary ; but, whilst humbling our- 
selves in the dust for our manifold iniqui- 
ties, let . us often, by counsel and persua- 
sion, urge each other to put on a cheer- 
ful courage, and to run with patience the 
race set before us, never forgetting to look 
to Jesus, the Alpha and Omega of our 
hopes. 

" My love to all. Clara and Edward are 
at Chobham, I suppose. Tell Clara she 
can not feel more sorry than I am, that I 
could not get leave to be able to meet 
her there. 

" Ever, my darling little sister, 
" Your most attached brother, 

"IIedley Vicars." 

Part of the months of July and August 
were passed in camp at Chobham. He 



HOME. 51 



thus graphically described its scenes to his 
youngest sister : — 

"Chobham, Attgust 17. 

" I think you would laugh if 

you saw me in my bell tent, sitting on a 
camp stool, at a box with four legs to 
represent a table. The furniture of my 
room consists of a camp bedstead, portman- 
teau, and tub. 

" The camp is to be broken up next Satur- 
day, when we are to proceed to Canterbury. 
I shall not be sorry to be once more settled 
in quarters, as I find it difficult in this place 
to obtain those seasons of retirement for hold- 
ing communion with my heavenly Father, 
which are so necessary to the keeping alive 
of reliiTfion in the soul." 



o 



In the month of August, not without 
regret, he resigned the adjutancy of his 
regiment. His best friends not only fully 
justified him in taking this step, but val- 
ued him the more for the reasons which 
led to it. 



52 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



In the following letter he alludes briefly 
to his painful feelings on this occasion : — 

To HIS Mother. 

*^ August, 1854. 
" My dearest Mother : I re- 
member well the unenviable state of my feel- 
ings, whilst stretched on the straw, with noth- 
ing to disturb me but the tramp of the sentry 
in front of my tent door. I fancied myself 
deserted by every one, even by my God. 
I thought, ' Oh for some Christian friend to 
converse with me ! ' Just then I heard a 
voice, saying, 'Mr. Vicars, are you at 
home ? ' I jumped up, and saw a home 
missionary, whom I had seen in the tent 
on Sundays. I invited him in, and we sat 
side by side on the straw for more than an 
hour, conversing on the sinner's Friend and 
the Christian's home. We knelt on the 
ground, and leaning against the tent-pole, 
prayed together. What a soothing influ- 
ence has prayer over the soul ! But it is 
the Holy Spirit who prompts us ; and to 
him be all the glory. 



HOME. 53 



" A Christian lias certainly his moments 
of bitterness and anguish ; but I would not 
change even these for the world's moments 
of jollity and mirth. 

* 'Tis religion that can give 
Sweetest pleasures whilst we live ; 
'Tis religion must supply 
Solid comfort when we die.' 

"When on guard I was struck with a 
proof that God is no respecter of persons, 
and has his own people in every class. I 
saw two miserable, wretched-looking men 
in front of the guard tents. I went to them, 
and found they were collecting bits of meat 
and biscuit. They seemed surprised at an 
officer, in ' such fine clothes,' talking to them 
about Christ. One of them had been a stoker 
on a railway, who had been run over by a 
train, which had smashed his foot and hand. 
Yet he could talk with delight of the mercy 
of God his Saviour, and of his goodness and 
forbearance. Who knows but that I may 
meet and recognize those poor fellows in 
heaven ? 



54 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



"We started from camp on Saturday 
morning at five o'clock. During a half 
hour's halt on the road, I fell to nutting, 
as nuts were plentiful in the hedges, and 
back went my thoughts to the days of my 
boyhood." 

A short leave in September enabled him 
to spend a few days with his mother at 
Southend ; after which he writes, — 

To HIS Mother. 

" My darling Mother : I left you yes- 
terday with no slight feelings of regret, as 
you might easily imagine if you had ever 
been a son. I agree with G., that there is 
but little of ' the real thing ' in the world, 
and therefore a man values a mother's love 
the more. 

" Cay came to my room at night, and we 
had a pleasant conversation together. We 
read Romans 8 : and prayed. 

" To-day I called on Captain Ingram, and 
enjoyed a walk with him. He is a truly 



HOME. 55 



Christian man. I have just been reading 
Haweis' ' Spiritual Companion to the Lord's 
Supi^er.' I have not partaken of that 
blessed feast since I was at Terling, but 
trust to do so next Sunday, please God. 
May that holy sacrament call to my mind 
in more vivid remembrance the great evil 
of sin ; for never was it seen so forcibly 
as when written in a Saviour's agony and 
bloody sweat, and in his cross and passion. 

" I remember, alas ! too well, the time 
when I dreaded the return of Sunday, and 
considered it both dull and tedious ; but 
now surely no day is so cheering and de- 
lightful, and there is none that passes away 
so quickly. I recollect that, for several 
months, the only inward sanctifying proof 
I could, on examination, bring to assure 
myself that I had indeed been made an 
' heir of Christ,' was this longing desire for 
the Lord's day." 

Early in February he received intelli- 
gence of the alarming illness of his uncle, 



56 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



Colonel Edward Vicars, R. E., at Gibraltar. 
He was on his way out to the East, in- 
trusted with an important military com- 
mand, when he was seized with an attack 
of paralysis, and was landed at Gibraltar, 
in danger of his life. His wife was not in 
health to undertake the voyage thither. In 
this extremity, Hedley, with characteristic 
unselfishness, at some personal inconven- 
ience, immediately accepted the proposition 
to go in her place. 

Note. Among the interesting events occurring dur- 
ing Vicars' visit home, an account of which has been 
necessarily omitted in this abridgment, was his engage- 
ment to a most estimable and lovely young lady, whose 
early affection was entirely his, and whose spirit was of 
kindred quality. It will be noticed that she is referred 
to as " L." iu several of his letters hereafter. 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 57 



VI. 
WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 

Scarcely had he sailed for Gibraltar, 
when the startling order for an army to 
proceed to the Crimea shook the heart of 
peaceful England to its center. Partings 
took place such as had not been known in 
the land for forty years, and farewell bless- 
ings Avere given, to extend over fields of 
bloodshed and death. 

^'^ Pray for him,^' was the watchword from 
friend to friend, as a husband, a son, or a 
brother went forth to fight the battles of his 
country, and efforts were made by those who 
felt that higher interests were at stake than 
of this mortal life only, to carry the message 
of peace to men who were on the eve of 
being engaged in the horrors of war. Every 
pulse of the country beat only for her sol- 
dier sons. 



58 LIFE OF IIEDLEY VICARS. 



At length came the notice of the 97th 
being under orders. 

Hedley Vicars was now to enter on the 
most solemn period of his life. To those 
who watch the guidings of the divine hand, 
it will be scarcely necessary to point out the 
wisdom of that Providence which led him to 
Greece, and kept him there throughout the 
awful prevalence of the cholera and malig- 
nant fever — a visitation which, within the 
space of thirty-four days, deprived his regi- 
ment of one hundred and twenty of its ablest 
and finest men. 

As no sjDiritual instruction was provided 
for either Protestant or Roman Catholic 
soldiers, the field was his own. He began 
his work by undertaking the command of 
funeral parties for other officers, who gladly 
relinquished to him a task so little congenial 
to their feelings. In this way he obtained 
frequent opportunities of addressing the liv- 
ing around the graves of the dead, warning 
them to flee from the wrath to come, and 
beseechino; them to close at once with offers 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 59 



of free pardon «T.nd mercy from tliat divine 
Redeemer who is " the life of them that be- 
lieve, and the resurrection of the dead." 

It was " the love of Christ constraining " 
him, and no mere sense of duty, which led 
Hedley Vicars to spend the greater part of 
his days, and often of his nights, in the pesti- 
lential air of the crowded hospitals — 

" Seeking, as men seek for riches, 
Painful vigils by the bed 
Where the sick and dying stretches 
Aching limbs beside the dead." 

Dearer than life to him was the hope of per- 
suading the dying to look to Jesus, remem- 
bering the breadth of the promise, " Look 
unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the 
earth." And doubly did he prize the op- 
portunity, when the lighting up of a dying 
eye at the name of Jesus assured him that 
he was ministering to one of the brethren of 
his Lord, for he was not unmindful of the 
words, " I was sick, and ye visited me." 

With all his zeal, he was ever careful to 
avoid giving offense. I have known him 



60 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



erase passages which seemed to speak harshly 
of Roman Catholics from tracts he was about 
to distribute generally amongst the men. 
Much as he abhorred Popery, he had the 
greatest tenderness for the feelings of Roman 
Catholics. His constant kindness and sym- 
pathy for all, of any creed, and whether 
officers or men, are not easily to be described. 
When others were depressed, he was always 
hopeful. His spirits were hardly ever cast 
down. 

The history of this solemn time is more 
fully given in his own earnest letters : — 
«*Pm^us, July 21, 1854. 

" I know that what I have to tell 

you will cause you great anxiety ; but the 
newspapers will give you all particulars, 
whether I do so or not. The cholera has 
been raging here. For some time it was 
with the French alone ; but the day before 
yesterday we lost one man, and since then 
nine have been carried off by it. Oh, dear- 
est friends, pray that this fearful visitation 
may be the means of awakening solemn 



i 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 61 



thoughts in the stoutest hearts amongst my 
thoughtless comrades, and leading them for 
pardon, peace, and safety to Jesus, the Sa- 
viour of sinners. Do not be alarmed for 
me. Remember God's delight in answering 
prayer; and surely no man has such praying 
friends as I have. How often the happy 
hours we have passed together come before 
me, and I wonder whether we shall ever 
have them over again ! . . . Should I die 
now, you know my only ground of hope, my 
only confidence, my only assurance is in the 
cross of Jesus Christ, and in the knowledge 
that ' the precious blood of Christ cleanseth 
from all sin ' — words as full of sweetness 
and of consolation to me now as on the day 
when they were first made to my soul ' the 
power of God unto salvation.' Death in this 
form, at all events, has its gloom even for 
Christians ; but then the sting, yes, the sting, 
is for them completely taken away." 

" 2bth. — Death has been busy 

amongst our poor fellows since I last wrote 
to you. Twenty-seven have died in seven 



62 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



days. I am quite well, thank God, although 
in low spirits. How can it be otherwise, 
seeing so many for whom I had a regard 
cut off thus suddenly ? Several of the officers 
of my regiment have been ill with fever. 
They have been mercifully spared from 
cholera hitherto. 

" Morning and evening the dead-cart leaves 
the hospital for the graveyard. It is all 
very sad and solemn, but * there is a silver 
lining to the darkest cloud.' I believe that 
to many this dread visitation of the Almighty 
has taught a lesson which I trust and hope 
never will be forgotten. Alas ! that so few 
have the comfort of religion, the knowledge 
of Jesus Christ ! 

^^ 2(jth. — Since I wrote the above, five 
more have died. I took the service for the 
officer whose turn it was to command the 
funeral party, and said a few words to the sol- 
diers who were standing around the graves, 
and asked them to join in prayer with me. 
i heard the voices of many, broken by their 
sobs. Not ©ne of these fine fellows would 



i 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 63 



hesitate to face a cannon's mouth or mount 
the deadly breach, yet they shrink from the 
fearful ravages of this unseen foe. Will you 
all pray for my regiment ? Pray for the out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit upon them. Few 
are as yet prepared to die. God bless and 
keep you all. In the midst of these gloomy 
scenes I think as often as ever of L., and, 
if possible, with even more overflowing 
thankfulness and love." 

'<PiR^us, August 12. 

" One hundred and five have died 

since the cholera broke out ; most of them 
were among the finest, healthiest fellows in 
the regiment. I have many opportunities 
now of speaking both to officers and men, 
and trust and believe, in some cases, not 
without benefit. In one or two cases, from 
what I knew of the men when well, I thought 
the subject of Christ crucified might not be 
liked ; but it was just the contrary. The 
veiy fellows whom I had most fear about 
speaking to were those who listened most 
attentively, and seemed to be the most in- 
terested. 



64 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS 



" In my own soul I have enjoyed a peace- 
ful, happy time, leaning on Jesus. It is true 
this is a spiritual desert; but seldom have I 
had more hungerings and thirstings after 
Christ and holiness. With David I can say, 
'My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth 
for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no 
water is.' But vou have tauo;ht me not to 
be selfishly engrossed with my own spirit, 
but to seek to have my soul drawn out to the 
hungry, to seek diligently after wandering 
sheep; and the deeper one's anxiety, the 
deeper are one's interest and delight in the 
work. Your precious letters help and sus- 
tain me. God bless you for them. . . . 
N. is most interesting to me now. Trust- 
ing in the strength of Jesus, I believe his 
mind is made up ' to follow the Lord wholly.* 
He comes to my room every evening, and 
we generally walk together. Four com- 
panies have gone to the hills for change of 
air. I never was better in my life, though, 
of course, not quite so strong as when I left 
old En<^land." 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 65 



"2l5^, 226?. — No one can fancy in Eng- 
land what the arrival of the mail is here, nor 
the power of letters like yours, to cheer one's 
heart, when all around is gloom and death. 
Your letters and your prayers have nerved 
me to do many things which, otherwise, I 
should not perhaps have attempted. 

" You will be thankful to hear there is a 
decrease of cholera. The last man we have 
lost (one of the Light Company) was ad- 
mitted into hospital last night. Poor fellow ! 
he suffered most dreadfully; it was quite 
painful to stand by his bedside. I remained 
with him for nearly an hour, and spoke to 
him from time to time of Jesus Christ. But 
whenever the cramps came on, his screams 
quite drowned my voice. On leaving, I 
shook hands with him, (his were black and 
cold,) and told him to ' behold the Lamb of 
God, which taketli away the sins of the 
world ; ' to look to Jesus, whose blood cleans- 
eth from all sin. When I mentioned the 
name of Jesus, he gave me such a wonderful 
look, full of peace and resignation ! Li 
5 



66 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



less than four hours afterward his soul 
had fled. 

" 23(^. — God has answered 

prayer for me — both for body and soul. Tell 
dear Mr. Chalmers how very grateful I am 
to him for praying for me at his prayer 
meeting for the army. 

"The cholera has again broken out in 
my poor regiment. Last night poor S., of 
my company, a fine, powerful young man, 
was admitted into hospital ; he had been an 
orderly attending on cholera patients, and 
had, therefore, seen many die. I went to see 
him several times in the course of the night, 
but he could not speak or listen to me ; he 
died soon after I left him for the last time, 
and was buried this morning. 

'' 2Qth, half past 11, P. M. Nine men 
have died since the 23d — four from the 
Light Company. We have suffered more 
severely than any. Last night I was at the 
hospital four or five times. I went especially 
to see Egan, an old soldier, who had been 
seventeen years in my company. Poor fel- 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 67' 



low ! he was so grateful ! He said, when I 
wished him good-by for the last time, ' God 
bless you, sir ; and may the blessings of an 
old man rest upon your head for coming to 
see and talk with an old comrade, when 
stretched out like this. Yes, sir, and you 
have the love and blessing of every man in 
the regiment.' I just tell you what he said, 
because it will give you pleasure. I feel 
myself that I have not done a quarter of 
what I ought to have done. 

" 21th. — Our Scripture-reading and 
prayer meeting at the hospital is still 
well attended. I always feel refreshed and 
strengthened myself, whilst talking of Jesus 
to others. Surely there is no subject so 
delightful to a sinner as ' Jesus Christ, and 
him crucified.' God grant that his love 
may lead many — all in my regiment — to 
take up their cross and follow him. I daily 
find him to be more lovely and precious to 
my own soul." 

By the beginning of September the chol- 



68 LIFE OF HEDLEY A^CARS. 

era had disappeared from the Pirajus. Only 
the 103d Psahn now seemed to furnish 
words warm enough for the language of his 
grateful heart. For a time he was cheered 
by tlie hope that the impression left by this 
visitation on the minds of a large number of 
his regiment was deep and effectual; but 
toward the close of that month we find him 
thus writing : — 

" While I see, and bless God for it, a great 
and visible change in many, yet, alas ! in 
numbers it grieves me to perceive that sol- 
emn impressions are vanishing like ' the 
morning cloud or early dew.' To some of 
those I have spoken ; and if I chance to meet 
them when alone, they express sorrow and 
regret for their ingratitude to the God of all 
their mercies ; and I believe they often mean 
(in a kind of way) what they say ; but when 
several congregate together, each becomes 
afraid of what his comrade will think of him, 
until it seems to be the careful endeavor of 
all to appear as little serious as possible. 



WAR AND THE IIOSriTAL. C9 



But whilst I write this, I feel as bad myself; 
for, oh ! what weak gratitude, what cold love, 
have I too often felt to that great Father 
who has preserved me through all the dan- 
gers which lately surrounded me, even from 
' the pestilence that Avalked in darkness, and 
the destruction that wasted at noonday.' " 

"I have lately had some conversation 
with one of my brother officers, who began 
the Christian course about the same time 
that I did, but became a skeptic afterward. 
I think I see a reawakening. Oh ! help me 
in praying that soon ' in returning and rest, 
he may be saved ;' that, accepting the mercy 
which the Gospel reveals, he may soon find 
the reality, the joy, the delight of the religion 
of Jesus Christ." 

To Miss Vicars. 

"PiRiErs, September 27-30. 
" Oh, dearest Mary, it is well to have the 
love of Jesus Christ in its reality in our 
heai'ts. What solid peace and rich enjoy- 
ment we obtain by ' looking unto Jesus ' ! 



'0 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



Where else shall we behold the boundless 
love of our heavenly Father ? 

" What else could have led me to the side 
of men dying of pestilence? for how could I 
have spoken to these poor, suffering crea- 
tures of the love of God, but by * looking 
unto Jesus ' ? And to whom could I implore 
them to look, but to Jesus ? When a dying 
man can say or feel, ' I know that my Re- 
deemer liveth,' he wants no more; it is 
Jesus he thirsts for and longs to hear about. 
I have noticed a calm and peaceful look pass 
more than once over the ghastly face of the 
dying as that blessed name passed my lips. 
May we not hope, dearest sister, that, (as it 
was with the dying thief,) even at the hour 
of death, faith in the blood of Jesus, breathed 
into the soul by the Holy Ghost, has set 
more jewels in the Redeemer's crown from 
among the soldiers of the 97th Regiment? 
God grant that when you and I are sum- 
moned before the bar of Christ, we may meet 
many such, ' clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands.' 



AVAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 71 



" I do not think I ever told you of Craney's 
happy death. vShortly before he breathed 
his hist, he asked Dr. Twining to read Ro- 
mans 8: to him. As he read, the dying 
man's breath became shorter and his face 
brighter ; and as the last words fell upon his 
ear, — ' Nor hight, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from 
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
J^ord,' — he said, ' Thank you, sir ; that will 
do' and died." 

There was a tone a])0ut his letters during 
the latter part of the month of September, 
which impressed his friends Avith the idea 
that his health and spirits were somewhat 
failing. For some time after the trial of the 
cholera season was over, he continued to be 
a constant visitor at the hospitals, where 
fever cases were still numerous. But doubt- 
less it was the extent of his exertions during 
those weeks when he had watched day and 
night beside the suffering and the dying, with 
an intensity of interest in their undying 



72 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



souls, which produced too severe a tension of 
his nervous system ; so that, when the call 
for exertion had passed away, he sunk into a 
state of extreme physical weakness. This, 
in its turn, produced a mental depression, 
which cast its shadow upon his religious ex- 
perience. No man could be so keenly alive 
to spiritual joy without an equally exquisite 
susceptibility to spiritual suffering. " Where 
you find your greatest pleasures," said an 
old divine, " there expect your deepest sor- 
rows." Yet how different are these from 
"the sorrow of the world which worketh 
death"! 

On the 18th of October he writes, — 

" I feel less tied down to this world than 
I did, and more ready ' to depart and be 
with Christ.' Oh, rather would I wait pa- 
tiently, and look for the coming of the Lord ! 
Shall we not hail that bright and glorious 
day ? ' The Spirit and the bride say. Come,' 
and our hearts echo, ' Come, Lord Jesus.' 
Then shall no anxious fears for those whom 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 



we love, disturb our hearts, warning us that 
the joys of friendship and of love must end 
for a time in the cold and dreary grave, for 
then we shall be changed for ever, and ' the 
body of this death ' shall be ' fashioned like 
unto his glorious body,' and we shall be to- 
gether with the Lord, beholding the majesty 
of Him who was slain for us — of Jesus, the 
King of kings, and Lord of lords." 

His own letters will best tell his thoughts 
and feelings on leaving Greece for the Cri- 
mea : — 

" PiRuEUS, November 2, 1854. 

" The order has at length arrived for ' the 
97th Regiment to hold itself in readiness for 
immediate embarkation to join Lord Rag- 
lan's army.' 

■" Before this letter reaches its destination, 
we shall probably be in front of the enemy. 
God alone knows whether we shall ever 
meet again in this world ; but, after all, 
what are the few short years we might 
have lived in the enjoyment of each other's 
friendship here, compared to that endless 



74 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



eternity we shall spend together beyond the 
grave ? My soul has lately had to weather 
many a stormy billow, but (and I know it 
will delight your heart, ever dearest friend, 
to hear it) I feel quite peaceful and happy 
now ; my own strength was feeble to resist ; 
but Jesus has conquered Satan, and never 
did I love that blessed Saviour more than 
I do on this day. 

» Through all the changing seenos? of life, 
In trouble and in joy, 
The praises of my God shall still 
My heart and tongue employ. 

' Of His deliverance I will boast, 
Till all that are distressed 
From my example comfort take, 
And charm their griefs to rest,' 

" Yesterday I was on guard. About twelve 
o'clock at night, whilst reading 2 Cor. 5 : I 
had such inward joy, and peace, and com- 
fort, that I felt strongly inclined to awaken 
the poor fellows who were stretched asleep 
on the guard-bed in the adjoining room to 
pray with them, and to talk to them of the 
love of Christ. 



WAR AND THE HOSPITAL. 



" I consider war to be a dire calamity, 
but as much a visitation from the Almiglity 
as cholera, or any other scourge ; and as on 
the appearance of that dreadful malady, we 
do not sit quietly down and let it take its 
course, but very rightly (trusting in the 
blessing of God) use every precaution and 
employ every means to drive it from amongst 
us ; so in the case of tliis war with the Rus- 
sian despot. He has made an aggression 
upon a country (one of our oldest allies) 
which had given him no just cause of prov- 
ocation, and has thus disturbed the peace 
of Europe, and let loose upon us the horrors 
of war ; and shall we Britons let him have 
his own way, and tamely look on ? God 
forbid ! Rather will we, the Lord being our 
' shield and buckler,' crush the evil, and re- 
store peace and quietness to the land." 



76 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICAKS. 



VII. 

WINTER BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. 

" The feig-ned retreat, the nightly ambuscade, 
The daily harass, and the fight delayed. 
The long privation of the hoped supply, 
Tlie tentless rest beneath the humid sky. 
The stubborn wall that mocks the leaguer's art, 
And palls the patience of his baffled heart, — 
Of these thoy had not deemed. The battle day. 
They could encounter as a veteran may ; 
But more preferred the fury of the strife 
And present death to hourly suffering life." 

The miseries of the winter before Sebas- 
topol have passed into lilstory. Battles won, 
against overwhelming numbers, on the cold 
soil of the Crimea, by weary men, worn 
down by luinger, bore terrible witness to 
the quenchless nature of British courage. 

It was amidst scenes like these, and sad- 
der still, on the mud-floor of the hospital' 
tents, that Hedley Vicars' faith was to have 
its last trial. 



WINTER BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. 



Toward the end of November, he was in 
comnuuid of an outj^ost, which was not only 
an important position, open to the attack of 
the enemy, but was also a picket, furnished 
by the 07 th. On either side of it were hills 
covered with stunted brushwood ; in front 
was a ravine leading to Sebastopol. Here, 
by day, a subaltern was in command of fifty 
men ; by night, the captain on duty with 
fifty more. The first force was then sent 
up to a cave on the left of the ravine, where 
a breastwork had been thrown up. For 
nearly three weeks, the party defending the 
outpost had to sleep in the open air, or at 
best under roofing made of bushes, through 
which the wind and rain freely penetrated. 
At length, however, two tents were pitched 
— one for the company, the other for its 
officer. Hedley gave up his own tent to 
his men, and continued to rough it in the 
open air, considering himself more hardy 
than many of them. 

There is in many of his letters at this 
time a singular combination of almost apos- 



78 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



tolic devotedness and love, with the gallant 
ardor of the soldier — leading to an almost 
boyish anticipation of a ''brush with the 
Russians." 

Perhaps the best illustration of this two- 
fold life (so to speak) is given in the fol- 
lowing letter : — 



o 



To Lady Rayleigh. 
"Camp before Sebastopol, Nov. 29, 1854. 

" We had delightful weather while 

sailing up the Bosphorus. We did not go 
on shore till the evening of the 20th. The 
rain poured in torrents all day. We landed 
in boats, and were well drenched before we 
reached the encamping ground, and looked 
more like drowned rats than live soldiers. 
It was dark before the tents were pitched. 
Parties were at once sent out to collect fire- 
wood, the wrecked vessels furnishing us wdth 
ample materials. Soon camp-fires were blaz- 
ing in all directions, and ofiicers and men 
gathered round them to dry their clothes 
and warm themselves, for the nights here 
are bitterly cold. 



WINTER BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. 79 



" About ten o'clock I read by the light of 
the first bivouac fire Psalms 23: 90: and 91 : 
Avith Captain Ingram, and derived great 
comfort and peace from them. One of my 
brother officers came up to warm himself 
while I was reading, and begged me to go 
on, (not that I had any intention of stop- 
ping.) God grant that he may soon find 
^ a dwelling in the secret place of the Most 
High,' even in the heart of the Lord Jesus, 
and be able to say, ' The Lord is my shep- 
herd, I will not fear what man can do unto 
me.' Resting on Jesus, my precious Sa- 
viour, I went to sleep securely. My bed 
was made of dry leaves, with a stone for the 
pillow, and but for the biting cold I should 
have slept like a top. 

" The duty has been very severe in the 
trenches, distant about three miles from our 
camp. I was in them from five in the after- 
noon till five the next morning, and also on 
out-lying picket the whole of the following 
night, sleeping in the open air, with a few 
bushes over me. I could hear the tolling 



80 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



of a great bell in Sebastopol, and the voices 
of the Russians working at their fortifica- 
tions, as plainly as could be. On the night 
of the 27tli I took a prisoner who was prowl- 
ing about, fully believing I had hold of a live 
Russian ; but on examining him by daylight 
he turned out to be only a Turkish soldier ; 
their long, light gray coats are so much like 
the Russians. 

" We are all anxiously waiting for Lord 
Raglan to storm Sebastopol ; for, though we 
must lose many in doing it, yet any thing 
would be better than seeing our fine soldiers 
dying as they are daily. What should be 
done is to go at it at once, without more 
dilly-dallying. 

" I have not seen a clergyman or a mis- 
sionary yet. How I should enjoy meeting 
one Avho would talk to the men simply about 
the cross of Christ ! The Holy Ghost always 
blesses such preaching. We have meetings 
in my tent for Scripture reading as often as 
we can get together, and delightful seasons 
they are. 



WINTER BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. 81 



" 111 the trendies, the other day, one of 
our men amused us much. At the first 
shell which passed close to him, he dropped 
down on his back, screaming aloud for a 
doctor, for he Avas ' kilt entirely.' The doc- 
tor ran up to him, and asked where he had 
been hit, when he exclaimed, ' Och, och, 
doctor, clane through the blanket ! ' 

" The night before last, one of my beau- 
tiful dreams was dispelled by a shaking of 
my tent, and in answer to ' Who is there ? ' 
I received the reply, ' Please, sir, a staff 
officer has just ridden into the camp to bid 
us be ready at a moment's notice ; the Rus- 
sians are moving on our right flank.' ' All 
right,' said I, and commending myself to 
my heavenly Father, fell fast asleep again, 
knowing I was all ready for a moment's 
notice. However, we heard no more of it." 

To his second sister he writes by the 
same mail, — 

" ^Ye are now, to mend matters, placed 
on half rations ; but I was never much of 
6 



82 LIFE OF IIEDLEY VICARS. 

an epicure, so I am quite contented with 
what thej give me. Indeed, I have no 
patience with fellows who are always grum- 
bling. Our hardships certainly are very 
great, but as soldiers we ought to bear them 
without a murmur. Many officers, I hear, 
are now resiji;nin2: their commissions. I can 
only say, Shame on those who desert their 
country in her time of need. 

" Decemher \%th. — I am, thank God, 
quite well — never better, and what is 
more, clean ! You know my weakness for 
* cataracts.' Well, I have contrived to get one 
every day for nearly three weeks ; but then 
I take more pains to get water for myself 
than most of the fellows. I dined to-day 
off soaked biscuit fried with lard — a capi- 
tal dish ; boiled ration pork, very good ; 
potatoes, middling, with mustard and salt. 
I am sure drinking spirits is a bad plan, 
and besides being injurious, makes a man 
colder than ever an hour afterward. Each 
officer and man is allowed a gill of rum 
daily. 



WINTER BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. 83 



" We are expecting every day to meet 
the enemy in open field, or to storm the 
fortress. I wish they could go at it at once. 
Be not anxious about me. I am safe in the 
arms of my Saviour — \feel it, I know it — 
in life or in death." 

'< Camp before Sebastopol, Dec, 22. 

" Thank you, dearest friend, for your 
affecting letter from Mrs. Halkett's house. 

" I grieve much to say that there is no 
hope left now that dear Halkett* might be 
a prisoner in Sebastopol ; but I believe he 
is in the presence of his God, clothed in the 
spotless robe of his Redeemer's righteous- 
ness. The man who so loved the fourteenth 
of St. John has found it all true for Jiim. 
I shall make the motto he chose for himself 
my own ; and if I am to fall too, I hope I 
may die with it on my lips — ' In God is 
my salvation and my glory ; the Rock of 
my strength and my Refuge is in God.' 

* Major Douglas Halkett, 4th Light Dragoons, who 
fell, ia the flower of his age, in the charge at Balaklava. 



84 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



" Give my love to liis dear young wife, 
and tell her I pray God to comfort her. 

" How I long for that which I am sure 
will come eventually — a victorious ending 
to this war. I wish we may go at Sebas- 
topol at once, for I am growing tired of this 
delay. But I can not see how the Allied 
Powers can agree to peace until the strong- 
hold which has so long withstood us falls 
into our hands. Therefore, as the honor 
of my queen and my country is involved in 
this matter, not even to return to you, dear- 
est, would I leave the Crimea, save through 
the harbor of Sebastopol." 



THE DAY-STAR RISES. 85 



VIII. 
THE DAY-STAR RISES. 

On the last Sunday which Hedley Vicars 
spent on earth, he seemed to have cHmbed, 
like Moses, the mount whence the promised 
land is seen, and to have caught the twi- 
light dawn of the eternal Sabbath so near 
at hand. Amidst unceasing work for his 
Master, he entered at the same time, in his 
mortal measure, " into the joy of his Lord." 
A serene happiness filled his soul as he 
went, in the intervals between the tent ser- 
vices, with the message of peace to the hos- 
pitals of other regiments. 

The subject of the approaching day of 
humiliation which had been appointed, was 
kept much in view. In some of his recent 
letters he had expressed his belief that, until 
God was more honored by the British nation 
in the ascription of victory to his favor, and 



86 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



in the acknowledgment of his chastening 
hand in defeat, they could scarcely expect 
complete success. 

Well was the day observed when it came. 
He kept it as a solemn fast before the Lord. 
Within that tent there was a Holy of holies, 
for the presence of God was there. Late 
that night he wrote these words : — 

" God bless all those whose exertions 
have been the means of bringing about this 
day of national prayer. Who knows how 
many precious lives may not be spared, and 
what great success granted, sooner or later, 
in answer to these prayers ! 

" I have felt the day to have been like 
Sunday, and have derived much comfort 
from communion with my God and Saviour. 
We had two tent services ; Yandeleur came 
both times. I spent the evening with Cay. 
I read Isaiah 41 : and he prayed. We 
walked together during the day, and ex- 
changed our thoughts about Jesus." 

Thus the last word he ever wrote was the 



THE DAY-STAR RISP:S. 87 



name he loved best, the name which is 
above every name, and which doubtless 
was the first to spring from his soul, in the 
fullness of adoration and praise, as he en- 
tered into the presence of the King eternal. 
One other fragment was found in his desk, 
addressed to her whom he loved with the 
full power of a true and manly heart. 

" The greater part of another month is 
past, and here I am still kept by the pro- 
tecting arm of the Almighty from all harm. 
I have been in many a danger by night and 
day since I last wrote to you, my own be- 
loved ; but the Lord has delivered me from 
them all, and not only so, but he has like- 
wise kept me in perfect peace, and made me 
glad with the light of his countenance. I 
believe he is becoming more and more lovely 
in my eyes, and precious to my soul." 

Twenty-four hours more, and his eyes had 
seen " the King in his beauty." 



bo LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 

IX. 

VICTORY AND DEATH. 

The night of the 2 2d of March was dark 
and dreary. At the advanced post of the 
British forces on the side nearest the French 
was a detachment of the 97th Regiment, com- 
manded by Captain Vicars. 

Taking advantage of the darkness of the 
night, a Russian force of fifteen thousand 
men issued from Sebastopol. Preserving 
a sullen silence, they approached from the 
Mamelon under cover of the fire of their 
ambuscades, and effected an entrance into 
the French advanced parallel before any 
alarm could be given by the sentries. After 
a short but desperate struggle, the French 
were obliged to fall back on their reserves. 

The columns of the enemy then marched 
along the parallel, and came up the ravine 
on the rjo-ht of the British lines, for the 



VICTORY AND DEATH. 89 



purpose of taking tliena in flank and rear. 
On their approach being observed, they 
were supposed to be the French, as tlie 
ravine separated the allied armies. Hed- 
ley Vicars was the first to discover that 
they were Russians. 

With a coolness of judgment which seems 
to have called forth admiration from all quar- 
ters, he ordered his men to lie down until 
the Russians came within twenty paces. 
Then, with his first war-shout, " Now, 97th, 
on your pins, and charge ! " himself fore- 
most in the conflict, he led on his gallant 
men to victory, charging two thousand with 
a force of barely two hundred. A bayonet 
wound in the breast only fired his courage 
the more ; and again his voice rose high — 
"Men of the 97th, follow me !" as he leaped 
that parapet he had so well defended, and 
charged the enemy down the ravine. 

One moment a struggling moonbeam fell 
upon his flashing sword, as he waved it 
through the air, with his last cheer for his 
men — ''This way, 97th ! " The next, the 



90 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



strong arm which had been uplifted, hung 
powerless by his side, and he fell amidst his 
enemies. But friends followed fast. His 
men fought their way through the ranks of 
the Russians, to defend the parting life of 
the leader they loved. Noble, brave men ! 
to whom all who loved Hedley Vicars owe 
an unforgotten debt of gratitude and honor. 

In their arms they bore him back, amidst 
shouts of a victory so dearly bought. 

Captain Browne found a stretcher, and 
placing his friend upon it, cooled his fevered 
lips with a draught of water. That " cup 
of cold water shall in no wise lose its 
reward." 

To each inquiry, Hedley Vicars answered 
cheerfully, that he believed his wound was 
slight. But a main artery had been severed, 
and the life-blood flowed fast. 

A few paces onward, and he faintly said, 
" Cover my face ; cover my face." 

What need for covering under the shadow 
of that dark night ? Was it not a sudden 
consciou.riiess that he was entering into the 



VICTORY AND DEATH. 91 



presence of tlie holy God, before whom the 
cherubim vail their faces ? 

As the soldiers laid him down at the door 
of his tent, a welcome from the armies of 
the sky sounded in his hearing. He had 
fallen asleep in Jesus, to awake in his like- 
ness, and be satisfied. 

The following letters are among the many 
spontaneous tributes of noble men, able to 
appreciate his virtues and impart consolation 
to the living in view of them : — 

From a Private in the 97th. 
"Camp before Sebastopol, March 23, 1855. 
" My dear Wife : On the night of the 
22d we had a visit from the Russians. A 
strong force pushed up to our advanced 
works, and succeeded in getting into the 
trenches where there was a weak point. 
Several of our regiment were killed, and 
amongst them was our gallant Captain Vic- 
ars, who was so deeply loved by all the regi- 
ment. Even the officers almost all cried 
the morninfi: after the affiiir. 



92 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICAKS. 



" He first received a bayonet wound, and 
then with a handful of his men drove the 
Russians off on to their own ground ; for 
where the affair happened is close to their 
own batteries. He was seen to use his 
sword bravely, when a bullet struck him in 
the breast, and he shouted out that he was 
only slightly wounded. But, alas ! he fell, 
and died soon after. The Russians would 
have taken him off and stripped him of all 
he was worth ; but our gallant lads bravely 
defended him, and carried him off the field. 

" Poor Captain Vicars will be deeply re- 
gretted by all who knew him, but I know 
his soul is in heaven. 

" From your affectionate husband, 

"John Cotterall, 97th." 

The following letter will be read with 
melancholy interest, as it is from the pen of 
one who fell foremost in the Redan, whilst 
gallantly leading the forlorn hope, on the 
8th of September, and was followed to a 
soldier's grave with no common regret : — 



VICTORY AND DEATH. 93 



«'Camp, June 29, 1855. 

" My dear Lady Rayleigh : My broth- 
er officers have requested me to acknowledge 
your kindness, and to thank you very much 
for your remembrance of them in forward- 
ing the books descriptive of the life of their 
friend and fellow-soldier, Captain Vicars. 

" It must be a very great source of con- 
solation to his mother to know that, in all 
this army, none, as far as human observa- 
tion can judge, was more prepared to meet 
his Maker. 

" I was not in the trench the night he suf- 
fered ; but hearing that some wounded men 
had been sent up, I had risen and gone to 
the hospital with the doctor. Whilst there, 
I was informed that he was being brought 
in, and hastening to meet him, found, poor 
fellow, that he had breathed his last, as his 
bearers informed me, calmly and quietly, 
having spoken a few minutes before I met 
them. 

" I must beg you to convey my condolence 
to his poor mother, to whom I would have 



94 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICARS. 



written at the time had I known her address ; 
but I was very busy, the regiment having 
just shifted ground, and being much pressed 
with duty, I left the corres2:)ondence to a 
personal and intimate friend of his, Major 
Ingram. 

"Believe me, my dear Lady Rayleigh, 
most truly to remain yours, 

"A. F. Welsford, 
"Major Commanding, 97th regiment." 

Extract of a Letter from the Eev. 
Dr. Blackwood. 

'« Scutari, April 30, 1855. 
" This urns a good man, and in his in- 
stance is realized the promise, ' The memory 
of the just is blessed.' In passing through 
one of my wards the day after the news of 
his death had arrived at Scutari, I met with 
two or three of his men, who spoke to me 
with the most earnest and affectionate in- 
terest, inquiring the truth of the sad news. 
He appears to have acted as a father and 
evangelist to his men. One very interest- 



VICTORY AND DEATH. 95 



ing youth wept freely while he spoke of his 
own former wild and thoughtless course, 
from which he had been reclaimed by the 
exhortations and instructions of Captain 
Vicars, who used to read and expound the 
Scriptures and pray with his men individ- 
ually, as well as sometimes collectively. 
What a blessing is such a character as Cap- 
tain Vicars ! and I believe there are not a 
few of the like spirit just now in our ai*my." 

To Mrs. Vicars. 

*' Beckenham, April 7, 1855. 

" Dear Mrs. Vicars : I am not writing 
to you merely a letter of sympathy. I be- 
lieve I can fully enter into your grief. Since 
the sudden death of a dear child of my own 
— darling Lucy's mother — I have never 
felt so thoroughly heart-stricken. 

" That brave soldier, that eminent Chris- 
tian, that active servant of Christ, that lov- 
ing heart, had wound itself round my heart. 
I could weep all day ; but this is wrong. 
Let me think of the honor conferred upon 



96 LIFE OF HEDLEY VICAKS. 



him in life ; of ^ the easy passage in tlea'' ; 
of the bliss of his spirit in paradise ; and of 
the brilliant example he has left behind ! 

"Yet a httle while and Rev. 7 : 13-17, 
and 21 : 4, will be fulfilled ; and there we 
shall meet our beloved ones who have gone 
before, (1 Thess. 4: 13-18 ;) and the pres- 
ence of the Lord will be the sunshine upon 
all. I pray God comfort you and your dear 
children. 

" Believe me to be, dear Mrs. Vicars, yours 
faithfully and affectionately, 

"Wm. Marsh." 



" Life is real, life is earnest, 

And the grave is not its g'oal ; 

Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 

Was not spoken of the soul." 



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