Year: 1864

Val sITlle, lou may nave won place
in the worlds esteem by pretended val
or and simulated nobility Of mind, but
the battlefield is the fiery test that
tries the metal and distinguishes the
dross from the pure gold. When you
stand in the front rank; and before you,
rushing down en- you, comes a black
mass of the enemy--when from that
dark thunder cloud the deadly fire leaps
forth to blast and destroy, the mask of
humbug and pretence shrivels up and
reveals the shivering COW ardice beneath
Noisy eloquenco or pretended courage
are of no use there. All your life is
there centered in one moment of action;
and in the next few moments Of storm
trial you may be put to the blush by
the pale boy at your side, hitherto qui-
ct and unnoticed, but who suddenly be.
comes transformed into a warrior and
hero. There is nothing like battle to
find out the true characters Of men,
The war is making people find their
proper level. All through the ranks of
the army there has been a re-adjustment
of the scale OF estimation in which peo-
pie are held.


The old catalogue has been torn up,
and a new one made, with an entirely
different classification of the index
But this has not been done until the
masks have been torn off in the fray,
until there has been a sitting ofcharae
ters in the hurtliug of battle. IF for
this alone, the war, dreadful as it is, has
been Of use.


Not only in the army, but at home
there has been a REIMBURSEMENT in the
scale. The virtues and the selfshness
of men have been brought to the sur
face. Some men have taken advantage
of the war, and have said, "I will make
my own private fortune out ofthe ne.
ceSsitics Of my country" Such men at
home are like the camp followers and
thieves who haunt the battle field to rob
the dying and strip the dead.


They are tho sharks that follow the
ship to fatten on the bodies of the crew.
The war has developed the character of
these mon, but at the same time has
brought out the honest and patriotic
workers. Many man has said, "My
country is in danger, and 1 will rotreneh
my expenses, will plant more, SOW more,
and work more to help my country in
its hour of need" Such men are fight
ing the battles of their country in their
proper places.


Let us go farther back even than this
back to the new work which was orig.
mated by the women of the country,
and which has been carried on by them.
They gathered together and devised a
way by which, with their busy fingers,
they could do something in assistance e
of the cause of their country. They
have gone on laboring, and increasing
the scope and magnitude of their under
taking,


No one appreciates the results of
those labers better than the soldiers
In every part of the battlefield the sol
diers have seen evid1nceB of the good
work done by those women, to assist,
and cheer, and relieve them. From his
own experience he could bear testimo
ny to the value of such assistance.-
After the battle Of Pittsburgh Landing,
when lying on that bloody field, one OF
the first things brought him was a coun-
terpane which came from Cuyahoga
County a counterpane which perhaps
some aged mother had worked on with
mingled smiles and tears-which had
kept her children warm, and been
treasured article in the house, but which
had been sent to comfort the weary sol
dior. None but those who have had
similar experience could tell how pre-.
cious a thing to him on that night was
that counterpane.


One Of the great elements that 90 to
make man brave, if he is brave, is to
have some one looking at him and ear
ing for him. 1t puts life and courage
into him. Probablyno one, in the frst
moment of the first fight, when the en-
emy are pouring down on the ranks
like au angry food, but has frSt
thought of seeking his own safety
But his next thought is that his com.
rades are looking at him, and that be.
hind thom his friends and the whole
nation are looking at him and trusting
to him. He feels new courage entering
his breast, he grasps his weapon with a
frmer grip, he plants his feet firmly
and nothing can mako him give an inch
of ground. With the eyes of his home
and country on him--with their pray
ers for him-with their trust in his