Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-05-31

figures decorating the walls and car
nets Of the cosllest kind, covering the
floor; without, are all the conveniences
and accommodation of modern, aris-
tocratic life; this is one picture which,
possibly, some Of you will see. More
will have presented to their minds
snug and humble cottage, log cab
in. with view here and there through
the shadowing oaks to the wide, roll
ing prairie beyond, or nestled in a
nook Of the forest with only few
acres of tillable land about it, neat
and clean, but scantily furnished,
showing in everything the hard strife
independence and economy against
adversely and poverty home of
the genuine, proud spirited, hard. toll
ing American pioneer. But your
imaginations, while you stand ponder.
ing and musng over the familiar
scenes OF the past. will not stop here.
They did not live there drcarily and
alone. Terrestrial angels were there,
whose loving hearts beat in unison
with theirs; whose eyes, beaming
with Joy and gladness, met theirs, as
they came from the field of labor at
noon and night to sup the tea and
coffee and eat the meal prepared for
them; who ministered to and cheered
them, making them forget their hard
lot, their business troubles and ankle
ties; whose tiny hands and sweet lips
pressed their sunburnt cheeks and
made their earthly, lowly homes seem
Paradise for their weared, troubled
souls to rest in. Little, pratthng
cherubs were there, on whom they
poured all the rich wealth Of their af-
lection, who were jealous of each
other, when they climbed upon their
knees, laid upon their broad chests,
and str0ked their rough boards.
You will see, in memory, this high
minded patriot, settled in such bliss
full home, when his weekly paper an
nounces the astounding fact that Fort
Sumpter has been fired upon, lay it
aside, look admiringly but sadly down
upon his knitting wife and his .lthy
children playing upon the floor, then
with q long-drawn sigh, az if he had
reached a satisfactory conclusion on
the inward struggle Of duty to his
family and to his country, utter his
resolution-"I am going to enlist to-,
morrow My country, which has
given me this blessed home is in dan
ger; and | am going to leave this en-
deared spot, these helpless children,
all the pleasures of society and the
compromising of kind friends aud Of
fer my life ID save her."
The next morning, at the hour of
parting, he tries to speak words of
cheer and comfort to his grief stricken
wife who weeps but blesses his noble
purpose. They clasp their hands ,
press their lips, gaze at each other
with looks fraught with fearful pre-
sentiment of what was to come, she
gives one last embrace, one deep sob
and lie is gone-never to return.
Never did human nature rise to
greater SUI limity, than in that hero,
born and reared in o5scurity. Never
was man more apparent as made in the
image OF his Maker, his energy never
has been and never can he employed
for a grander purpose; he never has
yielded himself a martyr to higher
principles and more righteous cause.
Some of you, who were the intimate
friends of some Of those brave eight
hundred, remember with what careful
tenderness, al i with what dire fore
boding they resigned to you the pro-
lection Of those dearest to them. And
then, after all preparations, how finn
~ and proudly they marched away to
the music of the boisterous drums and
heroic bugles, under the beautiful ban
Ter of the free "down to the fields of
glory, 10 do or to die for the eternal
right
The wife, burdencd with response
bihties and weared with awful sus-
pense and anxious thoughts, sits, now
daily, now hourly expecting letter
from the brave soldier. A t
length, it comes, and, for a while,
she is comforted. He has been III
the horrible carnage of battle, has
rushed in the furious onset of the
charge, has bYeathed the air filed and
whistlng with deadly missiles, has
heard the heart-rending groans of the
wounded, has seen the mangled
bodies of the dead aud the dying, who
too had dear ones at home and Is
himself uniniured and well. Weeks
pass by and she hears nothing more.
She waits, she wonders, she explains
she fears, she weeps. Lee has inyaa
ed the free soil of Pennsylvania and
Mead, with his trusty boys in blue
has opposed him. The battle of Get
tysburg has been fought. Many heroes
have gone to receive their immortal
crown atthe great white throne of God,
amid the loud, grand hallilujahs Of
millions of heavenly voiced celestials
She soaps her paper with distressing
anticipations, and with fast throb-
bing heart she glances down the list
of the missing. His name is not there.
Then the roll of the wounded, he is not
there She next comes to the list of the
killed, her hands tremble, her lips
culver, her eyes are dimmed and her
breast is agitated with the most pain
full feelings; she reads and-horror of
horrors.-his name is there. A wall
of woman's anguish rents the air,
chill tremor shakes her frame. a death
like pallor settles upon he face; her
head whirls, and PROSTATE she falls
a widow broken-hearted and DESC
late, having future, once so full Of
hope and JOY, presenting nothing but
gloom and loneliness. But she mourns
not alone. Fathers and mothers,
brothers and sisters, friends and rela-
tons share her grief. But it is not all
grief. They have a precious conso-
lation in the knowledge that he lived
the grandcst life that man can live
and died the noblest death that man
can die; IN the thought that he has
been welcomed into his eternal rest.