James Sherman Kimball : $b A sketchKimball, James William
Religion
James Sherman Kimball : $b A sketch
Kimball, James William
Kimball, James Sherman, -1864; United States Christian Commission
Says one: “He was the youngest delegate we ever had in Louisville;
and we found our hearts going out to him as to a younger brother. We
liked his original ways. There was something so fresh and childlike
about him,--a simplicity both rare and admirable in a young man. His
kindness to all was unbounded; but when a _soldier_ came to our rooms,
he would start up quickly, and wait upon him as politely as though he
were a king. He made the soldiers feel at home, assuring them that we
all considered it a privilege to wait upon our brave defenders. Nov.
6, Sunday, I accompanied him to the ‘Taylor Barracks.’ He read Isaiah
liii.; dwelling on the third and fourth verses, and repeating many
times, ‘Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.’ In
imagination I can see him now, standing before those colored soldiers,
reading each word so distinctly, so understandingly, and they listening
so attentively, drinking in every word, and looking so thankful for
assurances of home and heaven. He sought to impress upon them the
necessity of being prepared; to make them realize that God, though
invisible, was near, and willing to receive them. He urged them to be
zealous for Christ, because life was uncertain. He was very earnest;
the color came and went in his cheeks; and his ‘my friends’ to those
boys and men can never be forgotten.” Says another: “I shall never
forget that sermon. I was touched with his remark upon ‘His visage was
so marred.’ He did not think it taught that Christ’s appearance was
repulsive; but simply that it was wan, and wasted with his many cares
and ceaseless labors. One night there was a crowd. Mr. K. despaired of
full attention because he could not be seen. He looked about for an
elevation. He mounted a pile of boxes, and called for ‘Rally Round the
Flag, Boys.’ This secured them, and he kept their attention to the end.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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