The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-03-06
THE SILENT CAPTAIN,

"Stonewall" Jackson's troops and his ene-
mics believed he never slept; the fact is.
he slept great deal. When he had moth
ing else to do he went to sleep, especially
in church. / remember during the inva-
sion Of Maryland on Sunday night he rode
three. miles in an ambulance to attend
church III Frederick, and then fell asleep as
soon as the minister began to preach hishead
fell upon his breast andhe never awoke until
aroused by the organ and choir. He could
sleep anywhere and in any position, sitting
in his chair, under fire, or on horseback.
On a night march toward Richmond, after
the battles with Mcclellan, he was riding
along with his drowsy staff, nodding and
sleeping as he went. We passed by groups
of men sitting along the roadside and en-
gagged in roasting new corn by fires made of
fence rails. One group took us for cavalry
men, with an inebriated captain, and one
of the party, delighted at the sight of a
man who had found whiskey enough to be.
drunk, sprang up from the fire, and, brand
ishing roasting ear in his hand, leaped
down into the road, and, seizing the Gen
erals horse, cried out IL say, old fellow,
where the devil did you get your liquor ?"
In an instant, as the General awoke, the
fellow saw his mistake; and then, bounding
from the road, he took the fence at single
leap, exclaiming, Good God, it's old
Jack!" and disappeared in the darkness
Yes, General Jackson slept great deal, but
he was never caught mapping.
lie gave to sleep many moments which
other men would have given to conversa-
ton. He was essentially silent man; not
morose, but quiet. He smiled often, rarely
laughed. He never told joke, but did not
discourage them in others, and if one struck
his peculiar fal.cy he would smile in. mild
approval He did not live apart from his
staff, but liked to have them about him, and
they were nearly all very young men. Uni
versally polite i'll manner, he encouraged
the livehest conversation among them, al
though he took little part in it. He was not
a man of words; they seemed to embarrass
him. When he had ideas he put them into
action, not into language. His military
dispatches were as brief as If studied, like
the one he sent after the defeat of Milroy:-
''God blessed our arms with victory at Nc
Dowen yesterday" He never discussed his
plans; indeed, he never told them. The
next officer under him never knew his inten-
ton nor object. He never volunteered
his opinion to his superior nor asked advice
of his subordinates He was AS self reliant as
he was silent, and believed "he walked with
speed who walks alone" He was reticent
to fault. 'If my coat knew what I in
tended to do I'd take it off and throw it
awaw," was one of his sayings This reti-
cence often led to embarrassment and COM
plant from the officer next in command, and
might have led to disaster in case of his
death; but he evidently thought it better to
run that risk than the risk Of having his
plans discovered. Philadelphia Times.
-1r@H.E7.nxRS-
The Mussuinan preserves the lives OF
the lower animals solicitously. Though he
considers the dog impure, and never makes
o friend of him, he thinks it sinful to kill
him, and allows the neighborhood and even
the streets of his town to be infested by
packs of masterless dogs whom we should
get rid of in London or Berlin in one day.
The beggar does not venture to destroy his
vernin; he puts them tenderly on the
ground. There are hospitals in Cairo for
superannuated cats, where they are fed at
the public expense. But to human life he
is utterly Indifferent; he extinguishes it
with much less scruple than that with
which we shoot horse, past his work.
| @.I-----M
Dignity is expensive, and without other
good qualities is not particularly profitable.