se who have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, is,
and ever will be, the sincere and earnest prayer of,

YOUR LOVING GRANDMA,

C. T. CHARLESS.

Belmont, December 24, 1862.

Letter from Rev. S. B. McPheeters, D.D.

Shelby Co., Kentucky, Sept. 5, 1865.

TO THE GRANDCHILDREN OF MR. JOSEPH CHARLESS.

My Dear Young Friends:

Your Grandmother has told me of the letters she has addressed to
you, concerning the life of your Grandfather Charless, giving many
incidents and recollections of him, which I doubt not will be of the
greatest interest to you, and to those who will come after you; at her
request, I will also add a letter on the same subject.

Before doing so, however, I wish to say, that as you are all, at
the time I am writing, quite young, and as you will not probably read
this until some years are passed, I shall not address you as small
children, but anticipating a little, I will have you in my mind, and
address you, as you will be a few years hence.

I wish very much that I could give you the picture of your
Grandfather, as he was, and as he lives in my memory. And when I first
undertook the pleasant task, so distinct was his whole character upon
my memory, and so dear was the recollection of Mr. Charless to my
heart, that I thought it would be easy to transfer to paper the image
that was in my mind. But I have not found it so. I have once and
again failed to satisfy myself in efforts I made to draw his moral and
social portrait, nor do I know that I will succeed better now. But you
may ask what is the difficulty? I will reply by an illustration from
nature. When one is familiar with a landscape that is marked by bold
mountains, prominent headlands, or rushing torrents, it is not
difficult to describe such scenery so that it is at once recognized.
Very different, however, it is when one attempts to tell in detail,
what it is that makes a rich valley, in a bright spring morning, such
an object of beauty and delight to the soul. There are a thousand
objects too minute for detailed description, which, blended, charm the
eye and please the fancy, and make us exclaim, How beautiful! The
verdant grass, and modest flower, and budding tree, and singing bird,
and genial sun, and balmy air, and light, and shade, all combine to
make a scene, which he who sees it feels, but cannot easily reproduce
in the mind of another. So it is with Mr. Charless. That which ga