This was the spontaneous prompting of
his heart, and for this he labored with the zeal of a martyr.
Much of his early life was devoted exclusively to literature. His
reading, though without order, was select and extensive. He was well
versed in ancient history. The heroic characters of Greece and Rome
were his especial admiration, and that of Brutus above all others. Of
the nations of modern Europe, and their history, he knew everything
history could teach. His imagination was fired with the heroic in the
character of those of modern times, as well as those of antiquity, and
seemed the model from which was formed his own. The inflexible
integrity, the devoted patriotism, the unselfish heroism of these were
constantly his theme when a schoolboy, and the example for his
imitation in manhood.
When a school-boy, and at a public examination and exhibition, (then
common at the academies throughout the State,) our teacher, that
paragon of good men, Dr. Alonzo Church, selected the tragedy of Julius
Caesar for representation by the larger boys, and, by common consent,
the character of Brutus was assigned to Lamar.
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