The Life & Letters of Emory Upton, Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of Artillery, & Brevet Major-General, U.S. Army Book

Excerpt: ...tribute to the greatness and priceless value of the true love of a wife for her husband. It came to him at a time when the glory of his profession had reached its highest limit, and when without it he might have let go the substance of his faith for the shadowy possession of mere human praise, and the temporalities of a worldly life of ambition. He was mercifully directed to center his thoughts and his love on higher treasures than those of earth, and his life gave striking evidence that it was in accord with his religious belief. The following letters exhibit the trustful spirit of the Christian who alone can bear up under such severe trials, and show how Upton, through his chastening, grew in meekness and grace: WlLLOWBROOK, May 11, 1870. My Dear Parents: Mrs. Martin and I will leave to-morrow morning for New York on our way to Atlanta, where, with God's blessing attending us, we shall arrive Saturday, the 21st. I shall remain there about ten days, and then break up, preparatory to establishing myself at West Point. We shall go via Washington, and return via Charleston and the sea to New York. Nelly arrived last Friday from Nassau, quite worn in body and mind. She passed a most trying month in Nassau, mostly because she had no one to whom she could confide her griefs, and from whom she could receive heartfelt sympathy. All the accounts she brings of my dear Emily convey consolation. She tells us that Emily passed a most happy winter; that she suffered far less at Nassau than she did at home last summer, and the last ten days of her illness were not of that painful nature we had apprehended. I strive to bow to this affliction, and to acknowledge in it the goodness of God; yet I selfishly long for my darling. I know this feeling to be wrong,...