Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1864-04-07
Misfellanf0us.
PIcKED UP.

On tie field of Gettysburg, soldier
letter, tcithouf a signdture and nth n
other addrss than The ssoeet ndne-
I ELLEN: I am thinking tonight o
the little home in the shadow of tn,
walnut trees; where the fame-ligh
dances on my own hearth stone, anC
my fair boy babies fold their small
hands softly, and bow their brighr
heads reverently, while they syllable
the low prayers that ask of God pro.
lection for their soldier father. Ellen
lyon must teach them to pray thus
.How loug, Our father, must the no.
blest life in Columbias veins gush on
the bIackened hands Of traitorsf e
I How long must the crimson. alter
of.patriotism reek with the warm
blood of the brave, ere the stain is
washed from the Nations escutcheon,
and the boast of America freedom is
unsiIenced by the elank Of chains2
How long must the discordant jar
gon of contepding and unselfsh par
ties deafen the ear of an offending
God to the prayer that bursts in
waves of burning agony from the
lacerated bosoms trodden down in
the dust of our battle -fieldsp
How long must the lambs bleed
ere the shepherd wakens? God of
Mercy, support the right!''
Send this prayer from their lips,
Ellen; perhaps their pure breath may
bear it higher than mine can. /
think sometimes the whisper ofchild-
hood has strength the loud voice
of manhood never owns. "a -. -
The strong right arm Of the nation
is ou5stretched: but is its heart warm
is its head steady9 Are the cords of
its brain strung to one tension-do
the pulses of its life beat the same
time? Does the head think while the
hand struggles2 Does the heart ache
when the arm bleeds? Is the soul of
the nation awaks?
All! Ellen! there is an eloquence
that speaks above the ,clamor of fac
tious tongues! An eloquence to
which the souls utterance of party
feeling is Ike the trembling of the
forest leaves when the thunders are
awake. 1t is the eloquence of pain,
of suffering, sacrifice and Death
Who dares to picture eloquence,
while its living soul breathe in the
ranks where freemen's heart weep
blood for brethren inchains? There
is no division of feeling M the life
that leaps upon the sword. There is
no mean partizan- ship where unsel-
fish heroism pours eloquence on the
whetted knife of Disunion till Colum-
bias broad bosom is in one indignant
flush.
am sad to night, my Ellen. There
is a voice in my heart that sounds
like the patter of my children's feet
in their home-play haunts There is
a picture on my soul like the smile
of Holy Writ, that makes my wife's
face beautiful And, all day, one
word-a word whose music is tone
from Heaven has been written on
the blue skies, woven in the green
sward, spoken to the wave by the
breeze, and painted upon it by the
sunlight-that word is "Home -
You see, there is traitor drop on
my heart that makes me shrink some
times when duty calls, and always
whispers ELLEN" Yon must not
tell my brown-eyed Eddie this. His
lofty scorn of traitors wonld be apt to
challengeit.
Elleni There is a spell in that
name which takes me back to the
long ago days, when the noisy, i'm
petuous school boy elected himself
the protector ard knight errant of a
littl pale, timidvoiced girl, challenged
ever other boyish form that flung a
shadow on her path, and wandered
out, in the old woods of Alton, to
gather brightcolorcd buds and sun
painted leaves, to wreathe among her
pale gold hair. ~
| Later came an hour when the world
was poetry, and the refrain of it's
minstrelsy was "Ellen." = A time
when ! thought glove her hand had
worn, q flower her foot had tonched,
. prouder trophy than ever followed
in the wake of Alexander's chariot
wheels. have not quite conquered
this absurdity yet, Ellen. There is
a tress ofbraided gold very near yosr
picture in my heart-the sun picture
thatyour smile painted there-ap pack
age of letters and a bunch ofwither-
ed roses, among the ineongruous
tcontents of my haversack, that would
not be cheaply sold. Z
Do you remember once, when we
were children you were i'll, and my
passionate sobbing entreaty won me
permission to see you? Do You re-
member how wildly called upon you
to hive? how dreary I told yon the
lfgreat wide world would be without
lyon? how incoherently tried 70 teH
you( what / afterward learned to ex
press better that If you died ! should
be alone on earth? -
CA- ~.
| Lon. thor, .ast ~ fb.rat