The Soldiers' journal. (Rendezvous of Distribution, Va.) 1864-1865, 1864-08-17
Heroism in Common Life.

common lie is q true ana porIeCI sphere loI
heroism. There are, in the life ofevery family |
things that are magnificent and worthy OF poet |
ry and history, and that will be chanted in the
other life. There are things in the experience of
every household that are essentially heroic, con-
duct of parents towards their children, and OF
the children towards their parents, and of the
children toward each other. They are not fa-
nous, they not wide-sphered; but if you
measure heroism by the moral quality, by the
motive, yon will find cradle-side heroism and
bedside heroism, heroism of distress and pow
erty, which eminent as any heroism that
ever was on the battlefield or in the council
chamber. Yes, and ten thousand times more
so, because they accompanied with less ex-
elements and less prospects of sympathy and
remuneration. For in the dull night, alone
OH alone at the longest striking of the clock,
alone; at it's shortest stroke, alone at it's doub-
le stroke alone; at three and four in the morn
ing alone; with sick baby, and no one to sue
cor, sits the child of fortune, cultured, exquisite
in taste and sensitive in every moral feeling as
| an angel. At, last the longed for sound, now
hated, of the footsteps of him for whom she waits
comes to her ear; and some miserable dissipa-
| ted creature wakes the night and he comes,
rude and round, stumbling into the room and
| she with every feeling narrowed, with taste of
| Tended, with her whole nature outraged, revolts.
Yet, 1t was the HfSG lOVe III was the only lOye III
was the husband of her youth, it was hers and
she turns to forget her revolving and her shrink
| ing, to meet him, to quiet him, to lead him to
his disgraceful bed to put him to Sleep to kneel
| while he snores in his drunken slumber, and
amid tears, and prayers, and heart-breaking,
| and anguish like another angel of God to him,
| implore mercy for him. And not her own moth
| err knows it; not her own father knows it no
companion knows it. With her own life she is
hiding his deformity. Now do you tell me that
there is heroism like this on the battlefield or
in council chambers?
And society is full of heroes of love and do
domestic fidelity. Thousands of them are un-
known on earth. They march in ranks and
| battalions, so that we speak of them in nouns Of
multitude as drunkard's wives. All those that,
under such circumstances, lift themselves up
above the ordinary line of human conduct, are
| heroic And God waits for them, and heaven is
| homesick for them. Oh, how they will shine
| there! Perchance, as you see them going
through the street, meek and patient, their dress
| growing more and more rusty, you smile pity
ingly and say. "They are poor drunkards'
wives; they were promising once, but they have
gone down, down, down, and now they are
nowhere. beg your pardon they have not been
| going down; they have been going up. And
when yon rise, with all your wealth, and learn
ing and genius, and stand in heaven, having es-
capped damnation so by fire, you may stand
lowest and see them far above you as the
stars tonight are above your heads. For the
last shall be first and the lowest shall be high
| est.-Beecher.
A FEDERAL SOLDIER who escaped from Amer
? kI1D p1Nn1C mo- Wy AI1d