New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-12-27
NEW ORLEANS REPUBLICAN, SUNDAY DECEMBER a. 1874

me; her English vocabulary was limited;
| che hsd never read . line of romance nor q
verse of poetry. The nearest approach to
either was the Separstist hymns, of which
| the following lines are specimen:
"Rnhe ist das beste Gut
Dasz man hahen kann:"
Rect 10 the best good
That man can have
and which embody the religious doctrine
| of tho Zoaf Brethren, although they
think, apparently, that the labor OF twelve
hours each day is necessary to its enjoy
| ment. The "Ruhe," however, refers more
especially to their quiet eeclusion away
from the turmoil of the wicked world out
| side.
The second morning after this it was
| evident that an unusual excitement wat
abroad in the phlegmatic village. All the
daily duties were fulfilled as usual at the
Wirthshaus. Pauline went up to the bakery
with her board, and returned with her load
| of bread and pretzels balanced on her head
Jacobina served our coffee with her slow
precision, and the broad shouldered, young
faced Lydia patted and pulled up oul
mountain high feather beds with due care
horn, the workshops were full and the mills
runnings. But, nevertheless, all was no,
! the same; the air seemed full Of mystery;
there were whisperings when two met
furtive signals, and an inward excite
ment glowing in the faces of men, women
and children, hitherto placid as their
own sheep. 'They have heard the
| news" / said, after watching the tai.
lor's Gretchen and the blacksmith's Bar
bara stop to exchange q whisper behind
the wood-house. Later in the day we
soldier-boys had been received that morning,
| announcing their arrival on the evening
| train. The news had flown from one en0
Of the village to the other, and although
the well-drilled hands were all at work.
hearts we're stirring with the greatest ex.
element of q lifetime. since there was
hardly house where there was not one ex-
pected. Each large house often held q
number of families, slowed away in little
sets Of chambers, with one dining-r00m in
common.
Several times during the day we saw the
three trustees comforting apart with anxious
faces. The war had been q sore trouble to
their conscientious scruples against render
ing military service. They had hoped to
remain on-combatants. But the coun-
try was on fire with patriotism, and
nothing less than bona fide Separatist
in United States uniform would quiet the
surrounding towns, long jealous of the
wealth Of this foreign community, misun-
derstanding it's tenets, and glowing with
that zeal against 'spmpathizers" which
kept star.spangled banners flying over
every suspected house. Hang out the
that Zoar should hang out it's soldiers, Civ
ing them to understand that if not volun-
tarily hung out, they would soen be invol-
unfairly hung up! A draft was ordered,
and then the young men OF the society, who
had long chafed against their bonds, broke
loose volunteered, and marched away,
principles or no principles. trustees or no
trustees. These bold hearts once gone, the
village sank into quietude again. Their
letters, however, were source of anxiety,
coming as they did from the vain outside
world; and the old postmaster, autocrat
though he was, hardly dared to suppress
them. But he said, shaking his head. that
they chad fallen upon troublous times"
and handed each dangerous envelope out
with groan. BR the soldiers were
not skilled penmen; their letters, few
and tar between, at length stopped entirely.
Time passed, and the very existence of the
runaways had become far-of problem to
the wise men Of the community, absorbed
IN their slow calculations and cautious agri-
culture, when now, suddenly, it forced itself
upon them face to face, and they were re-
Quire to solve it in the twinkle of an eye.
The bold hearts were coming back, full of
knowledge of the outside world almost
every house would hold one, and the bands
of law and order would be broken. Before
this prospect the trustees quaiied. Twenty
years before they would have forbidden the
entrance of these unruiy sons within their
borders; but now they dared not, since even
into Zoar had penetrated the knowledge
that America was a free country. The
younger generation we're not as their fathers
were; objections had been openly made to
the cut Of the Sunday coats, and the girls
had spoken together Of ribbons!
The shadows Of twilight seemed very long
in falling that night, but at last there was
no further excuse for delaying the evening
bell, and home came the laborers to their
evening meal. There was no moon, a soft |
mist Obscured the stars, and the night was |
rose from the ripening valley fields and fat |
bottom lands along the river The commu-
nifty store opposite the Wirthshaus was
closed early in the evening the houses of |
the trustees were dark, and indeed the vii |
lage was almost unlighted, as if to hide it's |
own excitement. The entire population was
abroad in the night, and one by one the
men and boys stole away down the station
road, lovely, winding track on the hill
,ide, following the river on its way down
The valley to the little station on the grass
grown railroad, branch from the main
rack. As ten o'clock came the women and
girls, grown bold with excitement, gathered
n the open space in front of the Wirth.
'haus, where the lights from the windows
their faces. There l saw the
broad shouldered Lydia, Rosine, Doroty,
md all the rest, in their Sunday clothes,
lushed, laughing and chattering; but no
Where can she be-" said.
ha how ho laruav /
,ealed her with their buxom breadth.
ooked for the slender little maiden in vain.
"Shu!" cried the girls, "de bugle.v
For down the station road we heard the |
ugle and saw the glimmering of lights |
mOng the trees. On it came, will-O'. the |
7isp procession: first detachment of vii
age boys, each with a lantern or torch, next |
be returned soldiers winding their bugles,
Or, Germanlike, they all had musical in
;truments, then an excited crowd of
rOthers and cousins loaded with KNAPP I
acks, guns and military accoutrements of I
II kinds; each man had something, were it |
My tin cup, and proudly they marched
/ the footsteps of their glorious relatives, {
caring the spoils Of war. The girls set l
p shrill cry of welcome as the pro-
,ssiOn approached, but the ranks con
nued unbroken until the open space in
ont of the Wirthshaus was reached: then, 6
slgnal, tne soldiers gave three cheers, | l
Re villagers joining in with all their hearts |
nd lungs, but wildly and out of time, like | i
altering fire of an awkward squad. The
und had never been heard in Zoar before. Q
be soldiers gave final "Tiger-r-rw and
en- broke ranks, mingling with the ex- t
ted crowd, exchanging greetings and en- g
aces. All talked at once; some wept, t
me laughed; and through it all silently t
bod the three trustees on the dark porch o
front of the store, looking down upon a
cir wild flock. their sober faces visible in b
9 glare of the torches and lanterns below. b
le entire population was present; even e.