The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1866-06-08

"The only sou of his noder, ard she ~a' sido''."
LUKE VII, IL,
Ia the green valley Of the Cumberland,
Aud where the rugged mountain range divides
lofty portal, walled on either hand,
Through which the silver Susquehanna glidesj
Half hidden in the shadow of the wood,
An unpretendiug moss-grown cottage stood.
An humble place-yet full Of calm content;
The home Of two, whose loving hearts were ono
0ld~Age and Youth, iu pure affection blent;
A widowed mother and an only son.
So the green ivy clasps the tottering wall,
Each holding each, till both, together iail'
She lived for him-and STILL at night and morn,
Comtnuted him, in secret, to her God
His life was her's-his aim to pluck each thorn
Which lay before her in the path they trod
His highest hope, her SORROWS to bcguile
Aud his supreme reward, his mothers smile.
Thus undisturbed, the peaceful days went by,
And all around gave promise OF repose;
When slowly, in the sunny Southern sky,
An angry cloud with gathering blackness, rose
The elements, in strange commotou, stirred,
Aud muttering thunders in the air were heard
n came apace-the storm Of civil war
And the bright heavens With darkness w0r0
oercast ...
From Hill to hill, the bale fires blazed Ofar,
And through the vales, shrieked the shrill bugle
blast;
While from the North, rushed Freedoms loyal
sons,
In prompt response to Sumter's signal gunsI
No patriot paused-from every dwelling, then,
Rose the stern chorus Of the battle-cryi
Tho dusty highway teemed with armed men,
Resolved to conquer-and content to die
And with that daunllcss host was numbered one,
Known from his childhood as "The Widows Son..
Nh -. A.. A.. ,,.Lor sod huk snlf- ms sod
He left his mother at the cottage-door;
In tears, she pressed him to her-Oching breast,
With trembling lips, She blessed him o'er and
Ger
Then sweetly smiling to disguise her woe,
Blessed him again-and calmly babe him go.
She gazed upon his form, as through the wood
Ne'er looking back, he hurricdy withdrewi
And lingering at the op,n doorway stood,
Long after he had vanished from her view
And still, with feeble sep. she came each day,
To watch the path by which he passed away
But even then, she wished not his return,
For she had yielded him at Dnty's shrine
And though the summons had seemed Amos
| stern,
She had not faltered, and did not repne
She deemed him now still dcarer than before,
And, yet, she loved her suffering country more
The months wore on-the changing seasons passed
And, faithful to his trust, he wearied not;
But, through the burning heat and freezing blast
Met, with cheerful zeal, his toilsome lot
A patriot soldier, whose heroic heart.
OF Freedoms mighty bulwark, formed part.
Twas in the Autumn, and the sinking sun
Tipped the green hill-tops with golden glow
Where the bright waves of the Antietam run,
Through blooming banks, to fertile fields below
Where nature has bestowed, with lavish hand,
Her richest gifts to gladden. Maryland.
The sky was cloudless, and the air serene;
The distance faded in the closing light
When, from abeve, to sanctify the scene,
The sanity stars came bcaming through tn
| night;
But in the darkness, on the earth beneath,
Stalked bloody War, and by his side was Death
For, in that valley, stretching far away,
Beyond the margin of the crystal Hood,
Rebelliun's recreant host, in fierce array,
Led by the minions of foul Treason, stood;
While to the verge of the opposing bank,
Tho patriot army rested, rank on rank.
The morning d ,wned-but scarcely dawned, befor
The din of battle on the silence broke;
Hurled, in the cannon's deafening roar,
Down the dim vale, through clouds OF sulphurou
smoke,
Then, swept the patriot squadrons through tn
tide,
And deadly conflict ragged on every side.
The flaming lines fought sternly-hand to han.
The sitting air was rent with shot and shel
The rattling musket, and the clashing brann,
The changing trumpet and the piercing yell
While frantic steods rushed, riderless, away,
And crushed the dead and dying as they lay.
Great was the slaughter-oer the crimson fcl
From heaps of carnage, rose expiring groans
When suddenly, above the combat, pealed
The trump of victory, in exultant tones,
As Treasons banner, with its bloody bars,
Fell to the dust, before the Stripes and Stars
The strife was ended, and the battle ,won
The troubled air grew tranquil, as betorej
And In tls rffulgence OF the sotting SUI,
The verdant hills were beautfed once moro
But thousands who hailed that opening morn,
Were ghastly, broken, bleeding, and forlorn.
, Twas ON that highland, in shattered wsod
! Torn in the fight, and open to the sky;
With mangled frame, and faint from loss Of bloc
A youthful soldier had laid dswn to die
Though many friendly form was round hi
strown,
He rested there in sience-and alone.
: II was "The Widows Son"-with upturned fac
: His eyes were fixed upon the starry dome
: But painful consciousness had given place
To sweet vision of his happy home;
, His mother met him at the open door
She casped him in her loving arms once NOR
The fancy hed-he turned his gaze below,
And, in the distance, through the shade d
One. with a flaming torch, pass to and fro
Who, drawing near, came quickly to his side
And, kneelng by him, on the bloody ground
, Essayed, with care, to sLannch each streamir
f wound.
He seemed a stranger-and, in mute surprise,
The soldier scanned his kindly features Ger
No martial badge adorned his simple guise;
No glittering weapon at his side he wore
But, in the sacred bond of sympathy,
BROTHER, and CHRISTIAN, claimed TO be.
Christian Brother-of that noble band
, Who practice what the blessed Savior taught
Whose iabors are the glory Of our land;
Whose great commission from high Heaven W
e When. DER the silent plains of Bethlehem, ram
I The blissful anthem which the angels sang.
He brought the sufferer from the dreary wood
: And through the field, amid the PROSTATE dea
e Down to the roadside, where cottage stood,
e And found him there shelter and bed
r Then, smoothed his throbbing brow and tangl
And watched him with fathers tender care
!, But all in vain-for, with the waning night,
y His breath grew shorter, and his strength fail
! fast,
:, Till. in the early mornings misty light,
y The hour approached which was to be the la
y And, with a quiyering lip, and fearful eye,
\ The faithful stranger told him he must die.
Then, drawing still more closely 10 his side,
Smoke Of the Sayior's love To fallen men
! OF Him who, sness, for the sinful, died,
"a Yet lives, that those who die may live aga
le And falling on his knees, in earnest prayer,
He bore him TO the cFosss and left him there
l. That prayer prevailedtho soldier raised his ey
ID And softlJ whspered;" Lord, remember me
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