PELHAM "THE GALLANT." 135 so brave, so true, so free from any taint of what was mean or sordid or little that the sober words of truth may be doubted by some, who will only regard them as that tender and pious flattery which friendship accords to the dead. This sentiment will be experienced only by strangers, how ever. Those who knew him will recognise the true portrait. His modesty, his gentleness his bearing almost childlike in its simplicity made his society charming. This modesty of deport ment was observed by every one, and strangers often referred to the singular phenomenon in a youth bred in the self-sufficient atmosphere of West Point, and whose name was already so famous. He never spoke of himself; you might live with him for a month, and never know that he had been in a single action. He never seemed to think that he deserved any applause for his splendid courage, and was silent upon all subjects connected with his own actions. In his purse was found folded away, after his death, a slip from a United States officer, once his friend, which contained the words, u After long silence, I write. God bless you, dear Pelham ; I am proud of your success." But he had never even alluded to the paper. Distinguished unmistakably by the affection and admiration of his immediate General rendered famous by the praise of the Commander-in- Chief at Fredericksburg he never exhibited the least trait of self-love, remaining still what he had always been, as modest, unassuming, and simple as a child. This and other winning traits come to my mind as I write, and I could speak at length of all those charming endowments which endeared him to every one around him. I could dwell on his nice sense of honour his devotion to his family on that prisca fides in his feeling and opinions which made him a great, true type of the Southern gentleman, attracting the attention and respect of the most eminent personages of his time. But with the recollection of those eminent social characteristics comes the memory always of his long, hard work in the service. I have often seen him engaged in that work, which gave him his great fame ; and this phase of the young officer s character obtrudes itself, rounding and completing the outline.
