The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-04-13

equally as ready to grasp the hand al
ready extended TO you as a brothers.
and tried friend. Every word is a
speaking image in your own mind,
and every line the history Of your own
experience.
It is true the cOmmotiOn on the
other side Of the water, the once proud
Frenchmen, but now the triumphant
Prussians, attracted our attention.
well grounded evidence that our SYM
pathies and prayers were offered for
( the poor soldiers in behalf Of their sue
/ cess and speedy termination Of the
4 war, restoration of peace and harmo-
ny throughout their land. But this
brings up more vividly and variegat-
ed our own little affairs of by-gone
DAYS; norneed we blush to make men,
ton Of the same. We are relating in
cidents to ourselves, to our friends,
and to all lovers of truth-the incl
dents that are only sublime in the
real. They are pleasant by the fire.
side, when the glittering rays from
the brass-knObbed andiron remind you
of your now tranquil home, pleasant
in the workshop, where the ringing
of the hammer, the buzz of wheels
and the putting engine remind you
that the whizzing cannon balls are
lulled in silence. Yes, they are also
pleasant to listen to in the lecture
room and in the pulpit, when we rec
ollect how the God Of the just carried
US through triumphantly. Pleasant
to relate, only because it was for a
| good cause, for which many sacrificed
their lives, and made the hearts of
many dear friends bleed, that we and
the coming generations might enjoy
the blessings of the best government
on the face of the globe. We do not
boast of chivalry, nor is vainglory
our thought; glory is only ours be-
cause it had to be, not that it was de-
sized, but our lives depended on this,
our homes were at stake, every thing
near and dear demanded our help.
This was the great motive power to
action; this was the erowning of our
life, in other words, it is the bright
side of our living, and should we not
Justly entitled 10 it Let the emblem,
the Stars and Stripes, continue to float
in the breeze as Of old, and the heart
of every American born citizen rejoice
to know that this alone makes him a
free man, and gives significance to his
name, eOpseorated by one who is
thought to have been the greatest
! general in the New World.
The sun neveFshOwn more brilliant,
his rays never before were more well
come than on the morning of October
18th, 1852. There was a full, serene
splendor of light as it pointed out to
us pure fountain of sparkling water
within the limits Of Georgetown, Ky.
Was this the Imaginary fountain of
which we so often dreamed and were
as often sadly disappointed to wake
up and and il was bul dream? No
this was real, the sight of which SEEM
ed 10 cool our almost parched lips.
"In Rama was there a voice heard,
lamentstiOn, and weeping and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted
because they were not.n You are not
to Judge from this that our distress
was to be compared with That of I22ch-
ePs-it was as but drop of water in
the great ocean; ours was but little,
insignificant discontinue, incompara-
tive with the great mountain of trou-
BILE which could not be removed from
her troubled soul. We Yept silent
tears for joy. and were comforted be-
cause the sight of the fountain and
the rays of his majesty was the great.
est feast ever before enjoyed by man.
Dear reader, would you think me
foolish if 1 was to tell you that this
was the morning OF new life for
many of my comrades. / know this
will seem wonderful to you, and
doubts arise as to its credibility.
Man naturally is inclined to disbe-
lieve until there is sufficient evidence
to prove to him the reality of things
If might pause here and give rea-
sons for this, it would, under all prob
ability, benefit host of people. Suf-
fee it to say 1t gives ground for refec-
ton, and the good resulting from it
cannot we'll be estimated. 1t makes
man know man. After you are made
acquainted with part Of our previous
trials, you will not feel so much dis
posed to disbelieye what can only be
partially described here, for the bright
side is to be kept in view. In order,
however, to do this more effeetuallyy
it would be well to give little of the
dark and dTeaTy side.
After having marched nearly all
night, and just as thesun was making
his appearance In tine eastern HORIZON,
we halted few hundred yards from
the silver fountain. The field in
which We pitched our tents was nice !
ly covered with green sod, and we !
were wont 10 say that 1t was the land of
Paradise, The contrast of the present |
and previous life was so great on
comparison that it would not be out |
of place at all to have used the above
expression, "Land of Paradise" for
never before were men made more
glad, and more full OF life, than those I.
of US who were at that time under the
command of General Q. A. Gilmore. |
1t is 10 be remembered that this was
a very dry season; it had not rained /
for a long time, every spring and riv-
ulet along the line of our march from
seemed to furnish barely /
sufficient water for the use Of the in
habitants not including the stock, for
such received theft portion from the
pond water as did our
troops. To drink this water, already |
covered with green refuse, and in /
which the cattle stood during the heat 1
of the day, that they might shield
from the torment of wing
ed insects, was our only alternative.
Thus we lived from day to day, march
ing and drilling under the seorching
rays of the sun until every thing, in
deed, seemed gloomy enough. How
we longed to have draught from the
fresh water fountains at home. = II Is
not to be wondered at because so
many brave boys gave way to des-
and desired to quit the serv-
ice. To present a living picture of our
condition would be only of such times
as soldiers expect to see, if not it
would have been only an agreeable
disappointment. We were dead, and
the providence of Him who
directs all things according to His
,,-iaI,,. ,,-a,.a VA broupht to life again