The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1845-04-24
From Douglass JerOldis Shilling Magazine.
THE FlNERY UF WAR,

w
"Hall! Attention! Present Arms ~
One man speaks The worls; as il By nc,
chanisIn, Thousand msp obey him.
Yes: look down lbe column, that long
extending line ai red and white, crowned
with steel cad feathers. Every limb.
very muscle moves like limbs and mus
Giles directed by one Gini. and yet there
are thousand minds, ihuusand wills,
. thousand hearts Ihrubbing with man.
hoods ieeli G. and smosioH.. ysl all curb
cd. checked, pent up, giving no outward
mark oi their presence more Than il they
were naught, than II the flesh and nerve,
which clothe them were b., so much sleel
and brass.
Il Is great thing 10 see machinery imi-
tliing man-le,e r aud crank aplng mus
Gle aud sine~-but is II 50 great thing
IN see man initiating machinery, muscle
and sinew sping lever and crank!
AtIention" lis aserriet rank-com-
pact. regular rs msthemal:cal diagram.
legs, arms. nIuskris, .sbres, The same
movements--esery eye glancing. every
pulse beating-but as di.cipline ordains.
Crushing past with ringing arms and
trsmpling horses. a whirwind of gaudy
trappings. gay plamage. and sparkling
steel: body Of ravalry flies past. Their
array seems more loose. but It's in ap-
pearanre only. The trumpet is their
word Of mouth; and not only the men.
b.. the bruses they be.tride. can ir,,erpre.
the language, 40 The right! TO The Jeff!
halt! forward !" rings frunI out the brazen
or the silver tube. and The dnniIe sieeds
and docile men. equally vel di.cip'in' d.
think a. little, the one as the other, Of
the Why and the wherefore. but obey
faultlessIy, mechanically obey.
And then The loud melody Of martial
music comes ringing through The air
sPlrit-moviag strain ! MARCH. triuln
phal march. in all lis cadences. all its
bursts OF rich harmony; talking Of glory,
Ct pomp. and lying while il TAILS!
Why not interpret martial music Alright!
1t nigh, he dome, An ear morally tuned
might hear, amid the breath of its melody,
mournfnl wailing. shrieks such as sur.
geons shrink from when The scalprl is
deep In The fieshi the lamentations Of de-
spsIrlng men and women muitered lowly;
a roann. as roaring as Of burning homes;
and anon, "a hen the strain ceased, q ST.
lence like the silence OF deserted hearlhs |!
{
Nothing could be more awk ward il,
when We looked at regiment, we saw
only body Of slaves, vowed to perform
any killing work WHICH nigh, be demand,
ed Of them-if the sight merely call d
up thoughts Of mi ust wars, men and wO-
men dead and dying. cities burning and
plllaged. commerce and manufactures
checked civilization itself retarded. This
would never DO. The system would not
be tolerated. We must deck il in borrow,
ed plumes. Fine feathers make tiHe birds
the eye must enlrap The mind. Clo.he
var, therefore. in gayer colors than peace;
make Its ministers resplenienl in their
robes oil sacrifice; lei the steel which cuts
glitter like vslned gems: the e,olu,ions
which destroy be graceful as the mo ions
Of dancing girls!
In our review we have all the beauties,
the pic'uresqueness Of the real Geld. the
rurlingspose wrea,hes as gracefully from
the lannon's mouth as If a mass Of iron
had sped through its folds; the charge j.
AZ beau mi to seh"ld sweeping pasl--a
tempest Of men and horses. flags and steel
as If an opposing line were awaiting il,
and slaughter and widespread death apd
desolailon we're We inevitable rssplis nj
III meeting.
Aud the spectacle takes: il does it's do.
4, lhrows dust in our eyes. and we are
n'' unwilling 10 be ,hus temporarily blind