ADDRESSES 335 



it was only in the last letter before sailing from Tampa, that 

 the mask was thrown aside and he penned a brief farewell 

 to his brothers and sisters, commending to their tender love 

 his wife. Not more than a dozen lines, but all the same it 

 was the human cry of "the soldier heart buttoned over by 

 the soldier coat." 



We have said that he was brave. When on that fatal 

 morning he said, "Colonel, I want to go with you to-day," 

 it was with full knowledge of the risks he ran. He had 

 been in battle before. He had heard the spiteful hiss of 

 bullets and had seen men struck down around him. But 

 his keen sense of duty would not allow him to remain be- 

 hind in safety when he might be of service as one of the 

 Colonel's staff. There is a moral bravery which far trans- 

 cends that of the battlefield. The one is of the earth, earthy. 

 The other is of the spirit, heavenly. He possessed both. 

 Whatever interfered with his usefulness must be overcome, 

 and when once he had made up his mind, no power on 

 earth could move him. In temptation oft, beset by enticing 

 snares, his courage stood the test. The Good Book says: 

 "He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a 

 city." Verily he showed in this a moral force and rugged 

 strength that clothes his life with nobility and beauty. 

 The hero living for a principle. The hero dying for his coun- 

 try. Each in itself beautiful — each the necessary com- 

 plement of the other — together rounding out the perfect 

 life of the man. Alas, that such men must die ! Alas, that 

 they are snatched from us too soon! 



Not like some drooping flower, that no man noticeth, 

 But like the great branch of some stately tree 

 Rent in a tempest, and flung down to death, 



