New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-08-07
the People, tho Executive. aod the Army do
TEE FHRE zOUAvEs BERR AND
TMKRR.

accorded with the Justlce vi po'u p'''!
rey;ence. The theater rang with honest ana 'o'
ciferous applause of not impossible virtues. "o'e'
NTH his slang. and tobacco, aud rakish garo,
was manly, self-reliant, generous leho"' anu
-. eor.o IN the drama was borrowed after all
from the daily drama Of his life. As the people
looked ,t his exploits amid the unreal scenes and
characters of the stage they remembered events
frequent enough ia every great aud crowded city
which took a luster from the noble spirit OF the
fireman. They recalled fearful night alarms,
which his promptneSs and cool ibtrepidlty allayed;
herrid catastrophics which his courage averted
or mitigated lonely perils which he encountered
TO save others life and property. And there
rose before them the whole bright record OF the
volunteer Greman's career-a career as free IRON
base motive or any meOnness as that OF many oil
the worlds highest heroes, aud only suLed, as
the sun is by its spots, by his occasional cxceSses
When has this large aud rich community not
been in his debt How much has not his vlg-
lance and devotion contributed 10 its strength
And if. as the rebel sheet, The Richmond En-
oyirer. asserts, &" the Astors and COopers OF
{, New.York contributed literally to the equip
" meut" Of our ready freboys fer the War and
urged them earnestly to ilyede the South, 1t
was not because " they knew their brown-stone
&" fronts marble palaces and petboric ware
houses rested on foundation as insecure as
q" the passions of this glorious fighting material
but because it was the least return they could
make for years of unselfsh and arduous service
/ 10 bid them God speed on the higher service Of
their country; because they knew that they
would carry into tho battlefield virtues OF a
stern. manly sort, and finch before no foe, and
faint before no weary labor.
And the name of the Ncw.York Fire zousves
became at once terror to the Rebels. They
were no mcndicaut crew, ~ hrclng soldiers.
Rebel journalists knew it, Many of them had
often slept securely in Now-lOrk while those
fellows were listening for the call to duty, or
battling with the destroying fire. They knew
the lie they told when they traced New-Nork
iremen TO the Five Points and Backwel's ISL
and. and trembled to think Of the meeting of
our sturdy mechanics and artisans with the Chi.
valry of the South. The first to advance upon
the sacred soil Of Virginia, fierce impetus was
, given TO them b. the murder Of poor Ellsworth,
and as they raised a cry for vengeance and
pressed on into the thickest, tnelr comrades mere
ar home made silent vows as they drapcd their
houses with mourning emblems for him who died
go young, and fair, nad briye-Wbo felt so keen
ly for them all aud filed them with his own en-
thusiasm-Wlle the shadows of All awful retrl-
button fell over the traitor bands The day be-
fore Manassas brought darker reality The
mud-sis" made 10 craven account. We all
know how the Fite Zouaycs worked that day.
They went mp to cannon's mouth as they used
10 90 mp to cracking walls Of houses. There
was really no fear IN them, and the flower Of
the Ch,aly wc1t 10 seed before their burning
blast. They cared for no odds, they thought OF
1 no orders bat they remembered their little Col
onel aud wrote his epitaph in sacred soil with
blood-staned bayonets. Dozens Of them fell.
We have yet TO hear that they begged mercy
when the honuds biz az their wounds, and they
were tortured in their agony.
The record Of those who were made captive
is prOdd Que, aud it is naturally written by
TIE captOrs. OF course, the fury Of the fae
gentlemen soldiers spared but few. The ameni-
ties OF war were not extended to the Fire
ZOuaye, and he found death ald glory on the
field. But a worse fate, as it appears, was re-
served for some Of his comrades. There are
New-York firebOys now in the prisons and hos
pitfalls of the South. They have been exposed
and hunted in their wounded condition. Crowds
have jeered at their hurts and suderings. The
Richmond Eagpirer says "they have nothing but
o the human form and faculty Of speech to dis
d" tinguish them from goras' But the same
paper tells what could not be told OF on inferior
creation, and what can bring no blush TO the
cheek Of any gorilla row at home, to wit-that
nothing can be done with the Fire ZOuaves.
Other prisoners are tractable aud submissive.
Other prisoners whine, and express regret at
"takiBg up arms against the south. "They
" are very grateful for the kind treatment they
" are receiving at our hands," But the spirit
Of the Union irebOy is unbroken. lie never
learned how to whimper. lie does not forget
that Ellsworth was butchered, and that the deed
was applauded by tie entire South; and he does
not forget that "kind treatment" was not char.
acterstic Of his captOrs at Bull Run; and be
does not care the less for the Stars and Stripes
which still float from bis engine-house at home
because his own wounds are painful. Treated
like dog, he has the heart of lion. 1t is the
right metal. Sparta had nothing better in tone.
The Rebel journal we have quoted before sug-
gests that although the sentiment of humanity
" which finds no more capacioas dwelling than
" Southern heart demands that the ZOuayes,
4" debased, degraded, aud ungrateful as they are,'
shOud be taken care Of in their present condition,
,,.f gt,1I fLa t,-o,tr Jodp .t