The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-10-11


sion in regiment of Massachusetts, cav
airy. He confirmed the statement which
had heard elsewhere as to the aversion
of the Confederate cavalry to charge of
cold steel, their favorite way of fighting
being with the pistol-a habit, perhaps,
acquired before they had any Federal
cavalry to cope with. There are few of
the distinguished men of the North who
have not lost sons or near relatives fight
! ing for the Union the record is given by
Ri. Hughes in the January number of
Frazer's Magazine, and a noble roll it is
And We may we'll believe that these men,
thus giving up all they held most dear IN
the cause, should feel bitterly the cruel
and unjust taunt put forth in some of the
English papers of that time, that they
were carrying on miserable conflict by
the aid of hired aliens. How in any one
case "misera5le 2" The term implies
either an inadequate cause or an unworthy
foe. The Chinese war, with Armstrong
guns against bows and arrows, might be
called miserable war-perhaps even the
war In New Zealand. But war which,
| looked at in the lowest point of view, was
carried on to preserve the integrity of a
its object or not, had no right to be called
by such name.
SUMNER.
A frequent visitor at Cragie House,
! when Congress is not sitting, is Charles
Sumner, the scholarly Senator for Massa-
! chusetts, and the representative man of
| New England politics. Aud an interest
ing sight it was to see these two men,
Longfellow and Sumner, so kindred and
yet SO different, sitting together on the
eve of the great contest which was to de-
! eide the place oe America in the world 8
history-Sumuer with the poets little
daughter nesting in his lap, for he is a
man to whom all children come-calmIy
discussing some question OF European
| literature. Mr.. Sumner seemed to feel
deeply the detection of certain of the old
anti-slavery leaders of England from the
northern cause in the great crisis of the
great struggle, and ali the more because
New England had always been link, by
this common sympathy, between the old
country and the new.
| LOWELL.
| A frequent guest, too, is j. Russell
Lowell, who succeeded to the professorship
of the English language and literature in
Harvard University, formerly held by
Mr.. Longfellow. Mr. Lowell, the most
remarkable of remarkable family, tho
best Known to the world by his bumor,
takes high rank il many departments
uf literature, and the general complaint
| among his countrymen is only that he
writes too little. He has given high
character to humor, because he has used
it for high purpose, in selectingit as the
weapon to fight the battle of opinion
among his countrymen. When we re-
member that there are few men who have
suffered in their families as Lowell has
during the war, his lines
Goods price ez high. but nothin else
Then wut He sells wears long"
rise into something of solemn pathos.-
! Perhaps to those who saw in the great
struggle of the last four years nothing but
subject for highly spiced articles to
amuse the English public, this, along with
some of Mrs. Howe's stirring lyrics, may
seem "profaue. To those who, like my
self, look upon it as the greatest battle
between freedom and slavery that the
world has ever seen, the profaneness is ON
the other side. In conversation brilliant
and amusing, Mr.. Lowell is one of the
persons in whose company one can scarcely
be without carrying away something
worthy to be remembered.
AGAsSIZ.
And often, too, comes Agassiz, with his
gentle and genial spirit, his childlike de-
votion to science, and--or he would not
be true sor of the adopted country-his
eager interests in the politics of tie day.
We went to hear one of his lectures at tie
University, not one Of what are considered
the popular lectures, but one of a special
course to small class. Yet it was deeply
interesting, the subject being the shell of
the nautilus, and the question whether
the nautilus forms of its own habitation,
and if so, IN what manner. In clear and
terse English, though with a slightly
foreign accent, he traced the course of
scientific observation up to the present
| time, indicating the questions which still
remained to be solved, and suggesting the
points to which the attention of inquirers
should now be more especially directed.
He wound up with SOME general remarks,
| in the course Of which he exhorted his
hearers to strive to take the same pleasure
in the scientific discoveries oc others as in
their oWn-a noble aim, yet, ah how
| difficult to attain. l believe, however,
| that If there are any persons capable of
so much single-mindedness, Agassiz is one
of them. Between the poet and the ma
turallst there exists very warm friend
ship, and among other poetical tributes,
| Mr.. LongfelloW has achieved the feat