238 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
And if Semmes was emotional and sensitive, he was also conscientious,, high-principled, and genuinely re- ligious. Aide-toi et Dieu t^ aidera^ "God helps those who help themselves," was the delightful motto of the Ala- bama, and past question her commander trusted in God as well as in his own right arm. He inherited the Catho- lic faith and persisted in it with evidently sincere as well as intelligent devotion. His argument, in his book on Mexico, for the value to humanity of a liturgical service is as clear and cogent as his criticism of the excessive influence of an ignorant clergy in Mexican life. The touches of personal religion in his diary are absolutely free from pretentiousness and are very winning in their simplicity. Sometimes, indeed, there is a nai've mixture of his worldly occupations with his spiritual zeal : '* I have thus spent a busy day, without having time even to read a chapter in the Bible, and all for nothing — one Dutchman and two Englishmen." ^s But elsewhere the fervent outpouring of pious ejaculation is quite un- mingled with any taint of sordid cares. " My life has been one of great vicissitude, but not of calamity or great suffering, and I have reason to be thankful to a kind Providence for the many favors I have received. I have enjoyed life to a reasonable extent, and I trust I shall have fortitude to meet with Christian calmness any fate that may be in store for me, and to undergo the great change, which awaits us all, with composure and a firm reliance upon the justice and goodness of God." 29 I think you
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