HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!
1. This is one of the most beautiful love letters I have ever read. It was written by Colonel Chamberlain to his wife, Fanny, "My darling wife I am lying mortally wounded the doctors think, but my mind & heart are at peace. Christ is my all-sufficient savior. I go to him. God bless & keep & comfort you, precious one. You have been a precious wife to me. To know & love you makes life & death beautiful. Cherish the darlings & give my love to all the dear ones. Do not grieve too much for me. We shall all soon meet. Live for the children. Give my dearest love to Father, Mother & Sallie & John. Oh, how happy to feel yourself forgiven! God bless you evermore precious, precious one. Ever yours, Lawrence."
2. I found out today (due to Fidelio's incredible research) that I am descended from a line of British noblemen that dates back to the 12th century. Sir Robert Needham, who lived in the 1600s, was the Viscount Kilmorey, the Baron of Orhera, a representative of Ireland in Parliament, and a staunch supporter of Charles 1st. His son Charles succeeded him in these positions and was a member of the Irish House of Lords. In other words, I'm the (innumerably) great granddaughter of a Jacobite viscount!
3. In addressing the Army of the Potomac, Alexander Hamilton said, "The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die."
