The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1862-08-12
~. From Harper's Monthly.
What is our business.

IL Is no paradox, though II seems so that 1t
is the lovers Of peace who are generally oblig.
el to make war. Men WHO respect their own
rights and those Of others, and who wish that
the rights Of all shall be maintained, are BY
nature in direct opposition to those who ac-
knowledge no rights whatever but their own
wills. When the laws which defend those
rights are violated, or when the laws them
selves violate those rights, there is no alter.
native but acquiosence or resistance. Bat ac-
quiescence is merely the forging of the first
link Of the chain Of submission; and unless
slavery, and torpdity, and degradation, and
death are peace, the lovers Of peace must
withstand their first assaults.
These wounded soldiers, too, solitary, as il
were, among the crowd, remind us how few
the soldiers of the army arc when measured
by the greqt popua ion & the country. And
Of those soldiers, too, how many are filed
full with ardent conviction? How many know
clearly what they are fighting for? More,
doubtless, than the soldiers Of any other ar
my ever marshaled. But if their conviction,
were commensurate with their numbers, how
irresis tble they would bel They are combat
ing now, God bless them! Bit if all men
could see and feel what few do, thousand
would be terrible, and ten thousand nviuci-
bic. no
Good reader, think of these soldie. who
have given their limbs, their health, and would
willingly have given their lives for your secu.
rity and comfort. Think of them wounded,
wasted weary; untitled henceforth, perhaps,
for their ordinary business; with wives and
children TO provide for, with old parents and
slsers-think of them, and of the cause for
which they have suffered, and ask yourself
what you can do. Can you help this man to
get wooden leg; or give that one a lift in
learning new trade? Can you pay this
ono's rent for little while, until Le gets up.
on bis pins again; or have you some clothes,
books, magazines, newspapers, TO send to the
hospital where so many lie listless in the warm
summer days? Can you 60 and sit with thom,
read to them, nurse themi Can you send
fruit, or delicate food? Can you do some.
thing, or don't you care -and think they were
great fools not to stay at home and mind their
own bust 1ess
Yes, but what was their business9 To les
things go as they would? Well, it was no
more their business to do that than it was Lu.
ther's, or John Wesley's, or Washingtou's, or
Jefferson's? Why didn't Washington stay at
home, and mind his business at Mount Ver-
non, and keep his feet warm and his head
cool, instead Of camping at Valley Forge in a
frightfully bleak wnterl Why didn't John
Wesley preach comfortably in the comfortable
and let tliogs slide as he found
them? Who the dickens was John Wesley
that he must find fault with, his bettcrs, and
discover that the world was not good enough
Tor hms 1t was good enough for the kings
and the bishops; it was good enough for 9th.
er people; but an obscure student must needs
try to upset the settled order of things with
bis entbusiasms, land fanaticisms, and extrav.
agances Of every kind.
Poor miserable sinners that we are! 1t is
these men, aud men like them, who make the
world worth living in. They purify the air
Of human life. They keep society sweet and
decent, that otherwise, left to you and me and
our kind, would stagnate and rot. These are
the soldiers who fight the battles of the holy
war; sometimes with spiritual, sometimes with
,arnal weapons. Oftentimes they are woun.
led, often wasted, but n,ver weary. They
believe that God is worth living for, and man
worth dying for. Mind their businessl Oh
yes, Cain, we have heard your voice before.
Their broth,r is their business. His peace,
Ease, liberty, rights, general welfare, these are
heir affairs. These are the soldiers whose ev.
,ry wound is sacred-of whom the Great
Captain says, "Whoso doeih it unto the least
,f these my little ones, doeth il unto me-"