St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-05-19

THE zHEROlsM of COMMON LIFE. /
From sc'n'on By Asr. Harry ,ivtii Bec1yr. y
Common life, then, is a true ana perfect !
sphere for heroisn.. There. are in the life !
Of every family things TINT are magni6ccn, !
and worthy of poetry and history, al d that
will be caantcd in the other life There
are things in the experience Of every house
hold that are essentially heroic, connected
with the conduct of parents toward their
children, and of the children toward their
parents, and Of the children toward each
.eothe:. They are not famous, they are not
widespread; but if you measure herois,n
by the moral quality, the motive, you will
find cradle side heroism, and bed side hero
sm,heroisms Of distress and poverty which
are as eminent as any heroism that there
ever was on the battlefield, or in tie coun-
Gil chamber. Yes, and ten thousand times
more so, because they are accompanied
with less excitement and less prospects Of
sympathy and ren.unera,ior. For. III the
dull night alone-oh, alone st lie longest
striking of the clock alone at its shortest
stroke alone; at the donblc stroke, alone
at three and four in the morning alone;
with a sick babe, and no one to succor, sits
the child of fortune, cultured, exquisite in
taste, and sensitive in every moral feeling
as al angel. Al llas;, the longcA for sound,
now hated, Of the footsteps Of him for whom,
she waits, comes to her car and some
miserable. dissipatcd creature wakes the
night =; aud he comca, rsuae, and red, and
stumbling mo Tie :room: and she, with
every feeling narrowed, with every taste
offended, with her whole nature outraged,
revolts. Yet, it was the first love, it vas
the only love. it vas the husband Of her:
youth, it was hers ; and SHE .urns to forget
her revolving and her shrinking. to meet
him, to quiet him, to lead him to his disgrac-
ed bed, to put him to sleep, to kneel while
he snores in his drunken slumber, and
amid tears, and prayers, and heart-break-
ing, and anguish, like another angel of
God to him, TO implore mercy for him
And not her ow3 mother knows 1t !; net
her own father tnovs it F.: no companion
knows it. With her oEn !fc she is hi ling
his deformi,y.
Now, do you tell me that there is heroisn
like that on battle fields or in council cham
bers: And society is full of heroes of love
and domestic fidelity. THOUSANDS of them
ranks and bat1alions, SO that we speak of
then, in nouns Of multitude, as drunkard's
wives. All those that, under such circum
stances, lift Themselves up above the ord,n-
ary Inc Of human conduct. are heroic
And God watts for them, and heaven is
homcsick for them Oh how they will
Shine there! Perchance, as you see them
going through The street. meek and patient,
their tress growing more and more rusty,
you smile pi,yingly, AMI say, "They are
poor drunkards' wives; they were promis-
ing once, but they have gone down; down,
down; eaa they arc nowhere" beg your
pardon, they have not gone down They
have been going up: And when YOU rise,
with III your wealth, and learning, and
genius, and stand in heaven, having es-
capped dannation SO as by fire, you may
stand lowest, and see them as far above You
as the stars to- night are above your heads.
! For the last shalt be first, and the lowest
shall be highest -
There are hertcs that hgl,t battles besides
! thssc that lire on battletields. Great and
glorious men there arc on baltlefelds-
fighting for the life Of the country, for
the life OF. liberty, for the life Of justice,
for the life Of law; but there are o'her he
roes besides those. Ihavc seen the fight
with poverty. Oh, how long fight: how
cunning the enemy! how sharp his weap-
on. How dreadful battle Is that which
one must fight against poverty, especially
if he has to 60. down in life, and change
his circle i'll. society and what is hardest
of all, change it to the damage Of his chill
dren! I do Lot think that half o. man
would find any trouble~in being poor if he
could be alone. For it takes but little to
keep man alive; and there is, YOU know,
but one alternative \ man. stsnaing by
himself viii certainly live, and there will
be something to live on till he dies, and it
is the best thing about it. The only al.
tcrnativc is, "lf I die, win; and until
die. I am sure to live somehow It does
not hurt man to be poor, it lie is alone
but all d mans nerves he carries in the
heart of those that he loves, so that when
Tie suffer lie suffers; and to take his com
panion dewn inte poverty does. hurt him
If they were grown up, he would not Care
I But thev are growing up. The boys car
take care Of themselves very well, and car
=, gain o position in tile world but that tn,
girls should 60 out into life, and be kicket
, about like foot ballsj is TOO much for him II
f endure ,.,oIi oHr .a.zz5.#, q IL -
. / need not tell some Of you how maj
thinks about these things, and boy by tn th9'
thonght that his family must struggle will
poverty cuts like knife. Last week:
D met q brother, who, describing a friend o
, his, said he was like man who had drop
. ped i bottle and broken it, and put th,