Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-03-21

your eyes would have sparkled just as theirs
did. Not long after that, one bright sab
bath morning. in the winter when Mr.. B.
and his family were seated at the breakfast
table, that they heard low, roaring sound,
and the chilgrenstarte and said ..Itthun-
ders.p Mr.. b. listened, and the sound con-
tinued at intervals, and then it became one
long roar, and Mr.. B. exclaimed ut is not
thunder, itis cannon the bloody battle
has begun" Then they ran to the west
doorand looked out toward Lake Champlain
where Com. McDonough had command Of
the navy. But it was too far off to see
the smoke. and they could only hear the
cannon. Then Mrs. B. and the children
were so glad that "father was not in the
battle" Then the horsemen, came racing
| by, on their way to the mountains where
| they could see the battle; and some Eng
lshcam too, and stood with the Ameii-
cans, to see which should gain the victory.
And they said it looked as though the
whole lake was on fire, and cloud ofsmoke
hung over it." "Oh!' exclaimed the Eng
lish, at seems too bad for McDonough and
all his brave company to be cut off, they
had better surrender" "We don't think
they viii lie cut off, said the Americans
20 they must be- answered the English,
for our army Is SO much larger, they viii
utterly swallow them up. But Amefica
conquered, with the help Of the Lord, and
the glad news spread like morning light
Itwas said that on the morning Of battle,
Com. McDonough gathered his men to-
gether to ask Gods blessing, and suiey the
prayer was heard. During the battle, tn
English fired into the tackling Of the ship
in which the Commodore was, and it fell
down on to him. His men hurried to raise
it up, for they feared that their leader was
killed, but to their surprise he rose up
saying, "Don't be frightened, my boys, I'm
not burt much" and he went on giving or
ders to his men. Dear children, you must
remember that this nation is bought with
blood, and you must thank God for all the
blessings you have; for agreat many have
poured out their blood To obtain the free
dom we enjoy. Now don't think, dear
children, that war and battle are fine things
IF you could have been there when they
cleared the decks after that battle, you
would shudder to think Of war; The
decks were all dripping with warm blood,
and whibesthe wounded were carried away.
the dead were thrown into the lake. and
then such sight to see the soldiers gath
er up the bits and pieces of the slain, to see
the baskets full of lands and fingers and
seyes, which had been torn out by the ter
rible cannonl 0 my soul, the horror Of
war! Is this why mothers are to watch
ov "a their cherished ofspring9 Are they
to rear them up for the slaughter Of battle (!
God forbid Only think OF it, dear child
rell. for want you to shun war, and7when
YOU grow up, to make such laws, as will
not breed war. Think how dreadful bat
tie is. Those dear little hands of yours,
which your mother has kissed so many
times, and your eyes which your mother
loves so fondly TO look into, shall they be
torn out in battle2 Pray Gcd that it may
not be- PRAY God to send His spirit into
all the eartl, aud make every body love
Jesus, and then there will be no fshting
and no SORROW. Pray for it, dear children,
ask God to do it for Christ's sake, and he
will hear you.