Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1883-01-13

tones! "Oh, God, save me from my
ainsW found on reaching him one of
the hopelessly wounded cases, a poor
fellow who had been left to die, being
past all aid. 1 approached him and
asked what / could do for him. He
turned his eloquent dark eyes, lustrous
and beautiful, even in. his dying agony,
upon me. ~. "a ti8t#f
/ shall never forget the impression he
made upon me. A man of powerful
physique and remarkable personal
beauty, with rich, dark olive complex
ion. Every lineament of his face spoke
of intellect, pride and great magnetic
power. Oh, what anguish was depicted
there. He reminded me of some great
creature brought to bay, with no way to
escape. Such terror! Such fear! The
like never before saw painted on tho
said in reply to my question:
"You can do nothing. ! must die. ]
only ask for death. Oh, this dreadful
suffering! Oh, my soul! Oh, God, have
mercy on my poor sOul!'
| | inquired about him of u man lyinp
near, who told me had seven gunshot
wounds through his body, and that l~
could not be moved and nothing could
alleviate his pain. OF his former life or
history nothing was known. They had
fought side by side in several battles.
| Until then he had seemed to bear q
charmed life; possessed of incredible
strength and bravery, his tall form was
! ever to be seen in the thickest of tho
fight. He was always reserved and
moody man, evidently far superior in
intellect, education ana position to most
of the soldiers, with whom he never fra
ternized. AS he lay there his .eyes riv-
eted to my face, as though he would
fain derive some comfort, I tried to
soothe him by pointing out to him the
way to obtain the mercy he so eagerly
craved aid repeated to him the old, yet
ever new story OF, Him, who suffered
greater agony than he endured, even the
| died on the cross that he and all men
might live eternally. He listened with
| despairing eagerness, then turning away
| with groan, replied:
| "Oh madam, my Saviour has not yet
come. must die without seeing Him.
| | am Jew"
Again, l tried to tell him of the infn-
| tie love and compassion, that even at the
| eleventh hour he might believe and lay
his sins on the "La.nb of God that TAX
| eth away the sins of the world" He
| mournfully shook his head and said:
ooh! heard all these sayings before,
| but my Christ has not come. "Oh! God
of Abraham, hear me" He begged for
death to end his miseries. l left him,
to send some opiate which | hoped
might reduce him to blessed uncoD
seriousness. Two days after was near
the same part of the ground and heard
his faint voice still uttering the same
| IN tho EGEnI of his futhnrS ~ hVIf
| / did not approach him. 1t was too
| painful to witness such distress. with no
| power of relief. Whether his great
agony was from the retrospect of his life
or the pathetic appeal of a faithful 'sol.
| of Abraham" dying with no priest o.
the ancient faith to lay the hand of expi-
| alton on his substitute, was ever an I'M
| penetrable secret, like the unWritten his
| tory of thousands who were sacrificed in
| that great war.
One beautiful evening. after a long
days hard work, one OF my boys came
| to me and said: There is a little chap
out there who heard there wasa woman
from his home and he wan~3 to see you"
found him at the farthest extremity of
the hospital, with a half dozen other
| hopeless cases. He was lovely boy,
scarcely more than child, who had run
away from his home in Providence
Rhode Island, to join the "drum corps
He was a brave boy and great pet
among the soldiers, who nursed him as
tenderly as possible, but could poorly
supply mothers loving care. How he
longed for one more look of her dear
| face and once again to hear her sweet
| it was a marvel how he could have en-
| dured the fatigue and privation so long.
He was not disfgured by wounds, but
constant marches. insufficient food and
| often sleepless nights had exhausted his
strength and he had not vitality to resist
the sharp attack of fever. He was per
| fectly conscious, but too weak to say much.
| l asked the poor child what could do
for him. ''Oh, I want my mother"
sat down on the ground and taking him
in my arms tried to comfort him. He
turned his face to me saying, II am SO
| tired" laid his head against me and ap-
| peaEed to sleep. The last rays of the
sun touched the lovely features of the
dying boy. The long. drawn shadows
vanished in the gathering darkness.
Silence, unbroken save by the plaintwe
moan of some poor victim, succeeded
the hum of the busy day, The plying
dewsshed a balm upon his brow.
Fainter and fainter grew the breath and
more feeble the clasp of the little hand,
eyes, glazed in death, and looking long
and earnestly in my face, said: kiss
me, lady, before / diew Clinging still
closer to the stranger who could but
family represent the fond
mothers tenderness he so
eagerly .craved, he dropped his heavy
| lids and slept away his brief life as
peacefully as child goes to sleep in it's
| mothers arms. l gently,laid the lifeless
| form down on the hard earth and left
| him to soldiers burial and nameless
| grave. Poor fellow, what an atom he
seemed to be in all that mass of wretch
ed, suffering, dying humanity! Yet he
was all the world to the heart of that
mother, who wept and prayed for her
darling's safe return to the distant home,
that never again would echo his boyish
| step or ringing laugh
One morning, soon after L began nv
| work one of the Southern boys came
and begged me to go to q comrade of his,
who had been shot in the head. The
| lower part of his face was entirely gone.
| He could not speak, was suffering in.
tense agony but no one could under.
stand what he wanted. / gave him a
|
dying for drinkw It was
| impossible for him to swallow anything
with his mutilated face, but a. lady pro-
vided a cup with tube and gave him
some lemonade, which afforded him re-
lief. Nothing could be done to alleviate
his suffering. His wound could bed &
ed only by repeating cloths wet with
cold water. The raw flesh was alive
with vermin. His companion, who at
tended him with the utmost devotion,
told me he was good fellow" They
always called him the praying boy"
He showed me the little Bible which
contained his mothers name and pray
er for her darlings safety. He wanted
us to write and tell her where and how
he had died. After giving him all the
time could spare left, promising to
20 ana see him the next day. When I
went back the next morning his place
was vacant. His mothers prayers were
answered. He was safe at home in the
house with many mansions which God