Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-10-18

lhis book, which comes to 6Il 4 want. aud
deserves TO meet \ welcome, unfoids the SC.
crets Of so many consccrated lives that the
womanlincss Of America seems to have
sought speech and action in the deeds ef tho
two or three hundred women to tell the story
Of whose goodness there are not leaves
enough. Familiar names arc here names
that were known before the war in letter.
in art, in society names Of wives glorifed
by hcoic husbands; NAMES Of daughters
whose fa,hcrs the nation has delighted to
honor. But the roll Of the unknown is far
larger. Of quiet women, who lefs farm .hous.
cs and factories. home and children, labor
Of the hardest, or dreamfut easr, for the ter
rible toll Of the hospital, the awful charity
Of the battle field the grim kindness OF the
surgeons tent and outpost sick.room. They
slept on the ground, who had never left the
home roof They wore coarse garments, and
ate scanty and coarse food, and faced every
form Of loathsome disease and horrid death,
who had Jared daintily all their lives. Young
women to whom life WAS b~lossoming count.
ed no ease nor luxury 90 fair ~ service to
their suffering brothers. Women who had
worked for weary years At the hard toll which
the poor mothers OF large families are doom.
ed to undergo, reckoned no rest 80 precious
as the ill.pa:d. wearing, endless work Of the
hospital. Mothers who had given their sons
to the field, and their daughters to the Aid
Society, the Sanitary Commission, the
Freedmen, added the last gin Of their own
strength. and time, and health to the costly
STEERING. Women Of We Alth gave up Injuries
which habit had .aade necessities. Women
who bad ne-er had q penny to spare from
their reeds to their desires steadfastly starv.
I'd their needs that the hungfier needs Of the
soldiers might be fed. Factory girls and
seamtresses went for years without tea, with.
out butter, without sugar, without small hne>
ries, which had answered their aesthetic
sense, and been Of mighty value to them.
Ii Is impossible to estimate the small sac
riices which filled the Golfers Of the soldiers
aid societies during the war. No remotest
hamlet Of the North, no busiest, greediest,
whirling city, that had not its organized
band Of ~tireless women, working with brain
and hands for the troops. The great fairs
which kept alive the Sanitary Commissions
were born Of woman's Wit and nursed in her
warm heart, and for the most part reared
successfully through her strong sense. The
good which this noble work did to the work
ers themselves was incalculasle. Feeling
they were sustaining their part of the
struggle, they bore in patience, they
exalted into triumph the terror and pain Of
separation from those dearest to them.
Such . record - this does this volume of
Work ia the Civil War" reveal.
One cannot read il without those tears that
make the heart better; without . sublime
in the future Of America, who
in her bosom such daughters - these.
OF ell rursss, Saws DR.. Bellows, in his de.
.I~ntroductory Letter." "No one wo.
succeeded in rendering years Of hospit.
Able service who was not an exceptional per.
NON, . woman Of larger heart, clearer head,
enthusiasm, and more mingled tact,
courage, 6rmness, and holy will than one in
! thousand Of her sax. A grander collection
y women, whether considered in their in.
slleetual or their moral qualities, their heads
" their hearts, / have not had the happi>
hess Of knowing that the women | saw in
he hospitals. They were the flower oftheir
Mex. Great as were the labors Of those who
'uperintended the operations ct ho.ne-of
and preparing supplies for the
and the 6sld-I cannot but think
hat The woman Who lived in the hospitals,
" among the soldiers, required . fierce Of
character and . glow Of devotion and self
Of . rarer kind. They were really
or scarcely less service TO themselves than
o their brothers was Shis msgnii cent offer,
ng Of womanly gifts during the war. For
| proved that in l~aryeness Of conception, in
,ower Of graspins details, in ability to over.
ome the temptations Of the senses and the
Of the nerves, in patient toll day
lfter day, in organizing immense subordin>
lie department., in capacity to master the
business formulas. in ingenuity, 10
economy Of forces, and adaptioH Of means
ends, women are not inferior 10 men.
The history Of "woman's Work in the Civil
War; presents unanswerabls arguments of
act, not Of appeal, 70 the disbslisvera in NO..
Rights.
The book Is we'll printed, the pictures are
much less bad than is usual in volumes of
class, the paper 10 good. Ofthe editor
work it j. enough to say that il has been
.arful, conscientious, and generrlly discrin-
The difficulties to be overcome
vers very great, and they have been over
.ome. We wish this book might 20 into
very farmhouse. and log>cabin, and pal>
Ics ia the lasd. Il IL one Of those Tracts for
be Times which are better than doctrine or