March 31.—James Scott, the young man of whom I spoke some time ago, has just breathed his last. After lying on his back four months, he was able to walk about; he was then taken with pneumonia; recovered from that; was taken with diphtheria; from that he also recovered; and died from the effects of erysipelas. Poor child! what a happy release from woe and suffering! His young life had been one of sorrow, but he trusted in Him who trod this vale of tears before him.
“Calm on the bosom of thy God,
Young spirit, rest thee now;
E’en while with us thy footsteps trod,
His seal was on thy brow.
Dust to its narrow house beneath,
Soul to its pluck on high;
They that have seen thy look in death,
No more may fear to die.
Lone are the paths and sad the bowers
Whence thy meek smile is gone;
But O, a brighter home than ours,
In heaven, is now thine own.”
May God bless his poor widowed and childless mother! I believe this is the third son she has lost in this fratricidal conflict. I did not know any of the others, but trust they died with the same hope and faith this one has; if so, she will weep more in joy than sorrow, for they have only passed the portals of death a little while before her, that it may not be so dark and drear to her, since her loved ones have passed through.
Dr. Hopping took as much care of him as though he had been his own brother, and he had procured his discharge from the army. The nurses were also kind; they could not have been otherwise, for it was a great pleasure to wait on him; he was so meek and uncomplaining. He was a member of the Forty-first Alabama Regiment, and from Fayette County, Alabama.
