eart seemed to
return to the simple faith of his boyhood, and, gathering his
subordinate officers around him in his tent; he read reverently the
service of prayer which committed himself and them to the protection
of the God of battles. Mrs. Wheat's letters are, I think, among the
most beautiful and touching I ever read, yet sprightly and
interesting. Believing that all my readers will feel an interest in
the mother of glorious "Bob Wheat," I will here transcribe a small
portion. In one letter she says,--

"I am, thank God, in excellent health for one aged seventy-eight.
My husband was born in this city (Washington, D.C.) in _the year
one, he says_.

"We shall soon celebrate the fifty-ninth anniversary of our
marriage, and he is deeply engaged upon some 'post-nuptial lines'
for me."

In another,--

"I want to send you a sword and flag for the Exposition. How I wish
I could _take_ it to New Orleans, where I lived many years when my
husband was rector of St. Paul's Church! You know, our second son,
I.T. Wheat, was Secretary of the Secession Committee when Louisiana
seceded, also Secretary of the Legislature. He was killed at Shiloh
at the same hour as General Sydney Johnston, and is buried in
Nashville. We are hoping to have the dear brother's monument in
Hollywood, Richmond, where both beloved ones shall rest in the same
grave." .... In conclusion, "Our love and blessings rest ever on
yourself and all friends of our hero sons. Truly yours, in
Christian fellowship,

"Selima Wheat."

Here is the record of another mother, who is to this day proud of the
splendid record made by her sons, and devoted in the memory of _the
cause_.

At the commencement of the war there lived in Sharon, Mississippi, Mr.
and Mrs. O'Leary, surrounded by a family of five stalwart sons. Mrs.
Catharine O'Leary was a fond and loving mother, but also an
unfaltering patriot, and her heart was fired with love for the cause
of Southern liberty. Therefore, when her brave sons, one after the
other, went forth to battle for the right, she bade them God-speed.
"Be true to your God and your country," said this noble woman, "and
never disgrace your mother by flinching from duty."

Her youngest and, perhaps, dearest was at that time only fifteen. For
a while she felt that his place was by her side; but in 1863, when he
was barely seventeen, she no longer tried to restrain him. Her
trembling hands, having arrayed t