News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-01-22

Their Deeds Will Live Forever.
MEssRs. EDITORS Not long since
| saw in soldier hating paper, which
delighted in repeating what Il woman
not a lady, had said in our capital,
| Washington. which was as follows:
Would to God, had every q. A. r.
man in the country on this avenue,
and then. ! would with grape and
| shot rid the Nation of them" In the
same paper a young dude asked the
question: "When will the old SOL
diers get out of the way and give the
young men a chance? They have all
the good places, won't they ever
die?"
On reading the above, | was car
ried back in my mind to 1862. and
as | looked across the Potomac and
saw the battle field of Bull Run, |
could hear the Oaths and the cry of
| the enemies OF our country, "On to
Washington" | could hear them
swearing that before night the capt.
tai should go down in flames, but
| beardless boys wearing the blue coats
stood in the way until thousands
were slain, other thousands, wound
ed, with pale faces, clenched teeth
| and determined tread, amid smoke
and belching cannon, said "No!
| and they went up amid the roar of
guns, and recorded their vows on the
very throne of God. He'll was painted
on the skies; the earth was red with
patriotic blood, patriotic men fly to
the rescue, the Nation waits with
bated breath; funeral ofgolden haired
boys everywhere, but Washington is
saved. Then | looked at the great
dome of the capital; then at the
magnificent Government buildings
great object lessons of power, wealth,
grandeur and high civilization of our
! Union, then the wOFds of Proverbs
Gsme to my mind. Gle that oindeth
a. 5t0ne III as fT1Z--75 ~ r. ne tlT5ib gwen
! honor to a fool. Seeth thou a man
wise in his own conceit? There is
more hope of fool than of him. A
whip for the horse, bride for the
ass and a rod for the FOOLS back"
Will the old soldiers ever die? | an
swered by saying to himself: 100000
of them died when you was little
dirty crying kid; 10000 of them
died in fifteen minutes on the morn
ing of July Sd, 1864, in front of Cold
! HarbOr, where the army of the Po-
tOmac made an assault all along the
line. Twelve or fifteen thousand died
! in midsummer, under a bliStering
sun, in less than one month, around
kenesaW's bloody height, two hun
dred souls went up dailytO God from
dirt, starvation, vermin and thirst.
in prison hells, until the number was
nearly $4,000. Wives, mothers, sis
tiers, sons and daughters wept,
groaned and wrung their hands in
despair, until nearly a half million
soldiers left their diseased bodies and
stepped out into the great unknown.
Thousands hUbbled on crutchps,
while thousands more carry the
marks of Il herO-an empty sleeve.
A great army of men yet survive,
prematurely gray, with sunken eyes
and hollow cheeks, all carrying pains
| and germs Of death on account of
the great struggle for universal lib
erty and union. They suffered and
died for you, young man. But for
them, there would be no Government
in which you could seek IL position.
For PHYS sake young man, don't be
in a hurry! The great army is NOV
ing Out-every year the column
grows shorter; they are fast disap-
pearing over the line that hides eter-
nifty from our wandering gaze. Go
examine the stories told in the pen
sion office of marches, colds, battles,
wounds and death and get some pat
riOtism injected into your poor, inn
| beetle, weak brain. Yes, young man,
this great bureau of pensions tells US
that the surviving soldiers are pass
ing on and are fast joining the i'm
mortal spirits of Grant and Lincoln.
| They are as brave in death as the old
guard at Waterlool They will soon
be gone out of your ungrateful way.
| God bless them, if they could live as
! long as their fame will, they would
live forever General Sherman and a
part OF his army escaped the sui
phuric fires of the hell of battle in
that wonderful march to the sea, and
yet survives. The silent man, Grant,
went up to the top of the mountain,
dropped his robes and a Nation
groaned; Sheridan has ridden beyond
the Shenandoah Valley; General
Thomas pure spirit has pierced the
skies; Meade has answered the sum-
mons; Hooker, Lyon and glorious
old Black Jack LOgan-men who
risked their lives for the flag and
country, young man-have Joined
the half million slain; Martin worked
and renewed the fight when only the
brain lived and at last said, "Worn
out, - and amid the stars he took his
place. Gone are the columns brave
who stood and fell at Chckamauga,
Vicksburg, Shiloh, Antietam, Look
out Mountain, Atlanta, Donaldson,
Wilderness, Gettysburg, and three
hundred other battles, and in dirt
and rags, thirsty and starved, as
sisted by the berth of eternal freedom
at Richmond. Their deeds are writ
teen in characters of blood extending
| across the NatiOn-on the dome of
the capital, on every flag, on every
battle field, on every marble slab
that marks the resting place of a
union soldier. Young man, they will
soon be gone, the great clock, the
dial of time, will do it's work; the
earth will hide their bodies, but the
Government at Washington will still
live. Be patient, young man, and
let the old soldiers fill the places
short time longer. AN.