Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1860-03-09

eight others walked ont and took their
places in the line. The women shuddcrcd
and hid their eyes; the men looked s,cadi-
ly on in the fascination of terror; and the
little children in awed but ignorant curiosi-
ty. The place was rs silent rs if devoid
of life.
AGAIN the lieutenant surveyed his men.
"Take aim he commanded. lie con-
timed "aim at their heads, that your work
may be well done !" But though his
voice was clear and strong, and the tenor
of his words not TO be mistaken, a clairvoy-
ant flash of hidden meaning ran down the
line, and the men understood him. Then
came the last command "Fire but in
the second which intervened between the
word and the ringing volley, the ten men
we're already falling.
The crack Of the muskets and sound of
their bodies were simultaneous. Without
pausing an instant, the lieutenant cried
fright about wheel--forward !" and the
measured tramp of the soldiers rang down
the narrow village street.
The women uncovered their eyes and
gazed. There lay the ten men mptonless
and apparently lifcless. With the cries
they gathered around them; but ere their
exclamations of despair had turned into
those of JOY, the last Of the soldiers had
disappeared in the distance. Then follow
ed weeping embraces, as. all arose from the
granddaughter and sobs of hysterical
| joy. The pastors son, uncovering his head,
knelt down; while all revcrently followed
his example, uttered an eloquent prayer Of
thanksgiving for their merciful delverancc.
What this young man had done was not
suffered to 90 unrewarled. A blessing
rested upon his labors and his life. In the
course of time he became clergyman,
filling for while his fathers place for the
people he had saved but was afterward led
to wider and more ambitious sphere. He
was called to Leipzig, received the degree
of Doctor of Divinity, and finally became
known throughout Germany as the founder
of the Gustavus Adolphus Union, which
has for its object the dissemination Of Prot
estant principles by means of voluntary
contributions. In some respects it resem-
hles the Home Missions of our country.
Many churches built by the association arc
now scattered throughout the United States.
The inhabitants Of Waldrof never forget
their pastor nor he them. He came back
from time TO time to spend few days in
the village of his youth. and where the most
eventful crisis of his life was passed.
In 1856, three out of the ten pseudo vic
tins of Davoust are still living in their old
homes, and the people bethousht them that
the semi-centennial anniversary of such ar
event deserved special celebration. DIR
- of Leipzig formerly the pastors SON
was invited to be with them. lie came
he would have come from the ends of thu
earth-and after very solemn religion
service in the church, proceeded to tn
very spot on which he STOOD and face'
French muskets, and there related TO the
/ cnffuron and sys-a,,Jcl,ildreo of those he had
saved the narrative which | have related
in less eloquent words. Those who were
present described the scene as singularly
impressive and affecting. The three old
men sat near him as he spoke, and the
emotions of that hour of trial were so viv-
idly reproduced in their minds that, at the
close, they wept and laughed as they had
on the same day fifty years before.
the officer whose humane strategem had
preserved their lives. "Since that day.
said be, II have never heard of him.
did not even learn his name but he is ever
remembered in my prayers. Most proba-
bly, he died soldiers death on one of the
many fields of slaughter which interviewed
between Jena and Waterloo but if he
should be living, it would cheer my last
days on earth if | could greet him with a
single word of gratitude.
In the same year there lived, and no
doubt sill is living in Lyons, and inyalided
and pensioned captain of the Napoleonic
wars. After life Of vicissitude, he found
himself in his old age, alone, forgotten, poor.
Men no better or Drawer than he had
achieved distinction by some lucky chance,
fortune had come TO others, and others had
begotten children to cheer and vitalize their
declining days. Him the world had passed
by, and for years he had been living quiet,
silent pinched life, by the aid Of his scanty
pension. His daily resort was cafe,
where he could see and read the principal
European journals, and perhaps measure
the changed politics of the present time by
the experience Of his past life.
One day in November, 1856, he entered
the cafe as usual, took his accustomed seat
as he was wont to, and picked up the near
est paper. 1t happened to be the Augberg
Allgomeine Zeitung; but he had spent
some years in Germany, and understood
the language toerably. His attention was
arrested by a letter dated jena. "Jena J "
he thinks-"l was there; what is going on
there now? 2" He reads little further /:
"Celebration at Waldorf. Waldorf! the
name is familiar-wbere have | heard it y
As he continues his perusal, the old cap
tain's excitement, so unusual a circumstance,
attracts the attention OF all the other habit
ues of The cafe Grand Dieu, Davousi--
WaIdrof-the ten men-the pastors son !
Did dream such thing, or is il the same p
Forgotten for years and years-envcl-
oped by hundred other military adven-
lures, overlaid and lost in the crowded
stores of soldiers memory, the scene came
to light again. The pastors son still lived.
still remembered and thanked the preserv-
er Of the village! Many long year has
passed since such glow warmed the clam
bers of the old mans heart.
That evening he wrote 10 DIR. -- in
Leipzig. He was i'll and but few months
distance from his last hour but the soldiers
litter seemed like providrniial answer 10
bis prayers, and Frightened the fiickering
close of his life. A manly and afleciionate
eorresDondence was carried on between the