Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1863-05-08
TRUE COURAGE,

A little drummer boy in one Of our regi
ments, who had become great favorite will
many Of the officers, by his unremitting gooe
nature, happened on one occasion to be in
the officers tent when the bane of the sol
dier's life passed around. A captain handed
glass to the little fellow, but he refused it
! saying, !" 1 am cadet of temperance, and d.
not taste strong drink" -
But you must take some now. insis
on it. You belong to our mess to-day, and
cannot refuse" Still the boy stood firm or
the rock OF total abstinence, and held fast tc
his integrity. e >
r. The Captain, turning to the Major, said =
b..h! -----is afraid to drink; he will never
make soldier" @I'o
How is this ?" said the Major playfully
and then assuming another tone, added: q
command you to take drink, and YOU know
1t is death to disobey orders" ,.,.r
The little hero, raising his young form to
Its, full height, and fixing his clear blue eyes
1T up with unusual brilliancy, on the face OF
Abe. officer, said /" Sir, my father died O
drunkard; and when I entered the army |
spromised my dear mother on my Blended
knees, that by the help of God would not
Touch drop Of run, and mean to keep my
promise. am sorry to disobey your orders,
sir, but ! would rather suffer than disgrace
my mother, and break my temperance
Yhelittle drummer boy is now wounded
fas0fseser in the hospital at West Philadephia.
SIC sBEAur1FUI FIGuRE.-Rev. Mr.. Barnes, in
. his sermon on Life at Threescore," illus
"a tratesnthe magnitude of eternal things as he
d approaches the end Of life, compared with
those which ordinarily occupy the attention
Of mankind, by the following beautiful figure.
The earth, as it moves in its orbit, from year
to year, maintains its distance of ninety five
millions of miles from the sun and the sun,
at its rising OF. setting, seems at all times to
be OF the same magntude--to human view
an object always small, as compared with our
world. But suppose the earth should leave
its orbit and make its way in direct line to-
ward the sun. How soon would the sun
seem to enlarge its dimensions! How vast
and bright would it become How soon. it
:. would fill the whole field of vision, and all
the earth dwindle to nothing! So human
life now appears to me. In earlier years
eternity appeared distant, and small in i'm
portance. But at the period of life which |
have now reached, it seems to me as if the
earth had left the orbit of its annual move
ments, and was making rapid and direct
5 Al8useO tAc SUI. LIE ODJectS OIL eternity,
) toward which / am moving, rapidly enlarge
themselves. They have become oyerpowerJ
ingly bright and grand. They fill the whole
field OF vision, and the earth with all which is
!, the common object of human ambition and
pursuits, is vanished away!
- = =, : - = : 9sfa#s 3 fFt&
] SEPERABUNDANcE OF MEN.-There is, &C .
cording to the census, an excess of 733,258
!. males over females in the United States.
This fact is noteworthy and ought to quiet
the apprchensions Of those who feared the
war.would cause preponderance of women
after peace was declared. No matter how
bloody the war may be or how long, it may
last, it cannot make away with three quarters
Of million Of lives The waste Of life may
! make the sexes nearly even, but even then
we shall be better off than England. where
the females ass in excess by nearly million,
and the social problem of the day is now to
provide them with husbands or occupations.
2 About $4,000, 900 in postal csrrency
have teen printed, and about $15, O0o,eaO
are in circulation. The printing has been
stopped.
3