ETN FE Te... oie
'
Hhiscellaneous.
Hon. William Duer on Union for
the Union.
Vsweao, N. Y., May 16, 1862.
My Dear Sir : I have received your let
ter inviting me to meet yourself and other
gentlemen constituting a committee appoints
ed by certain members of the Legislature
designated as ‘Republican and Union mem-
bers,’ with authority, after consultation with
committees of other organizations, to fix the
time and place for holding a State Conven-
tion for the nomination of State officers. I
will give you the reasons why I think it
proper to decline the invitation.
The members of the Legislature by whom
the committee was appointed with which
you invite me to consult, adopted an address
and resolutions declaring certain principles,
“and inviting to a convention which they re~
commend, ‘All Republicans, Union Demo-
crats, and loyal citizens and supporters of
the Administration and responding to the
principles and policy’ set forth in such ad-
dress and resolutions.
1 cannot call myself ‘a supporter of the
policy of the Administration’ and I do not
respond to the principles and policy set forth
in the address and resolutions,’ and, there
fore, though a loyal citizen, I am not em-
braced within this mvitation.
I am ready, indeed, to support the Ad
winistration in the prosecution of the war
for the preservation of our Constitutiona)
‘Union, and T know that to this policy the
President 1s pledged by numerous acts and
declarations, the'sincerity of which 1 do nut
question. But whether he will adhere to
the plo ‘ges in spite of that powerful influs
ence in his own party which is seeking to
convert the war into an abolition war, is vet
to be proved. He has already recommended
an important measure which in my judgment
ig impolitic and unwarranted by the Consti-
tution. With respect to the vital questions
that remain, I regard the -policy of the ad-
ministration” as somewhat unfixed and un-
certain, and until I see more clearly what
it is, T am unable to call myself its ¢ sup
porter.’
But laying sside this objection, which
§- not seem to embarrass Republicans
who are the open opponents of the policy to
which the President is pledged, let us con-
sider the proposed union upon, its merits. —
Is it expedient, and will it promote the pub
lic welfare, to unite with the Republican
party upon the principles of the legislative
address aud resoiutions, for the purpose of
defeating the Democratic party of this State
at the approaching eiection ? That is the
question.
A year ago, when the country was in im-
winent danger, the Republicans ot New
York and of other States mvited Defocrats
and all other loyal men to lay aside partizan
controversy and unite with them in support
of the war for the preservation of the Con-
stitution and Union. No other motive or
purpose for the war was then heard from the
leaders of the Repablican party, or indeed
thought, a justification of every violation of!
unconstitutional law, to say that it may be
done by the war power.
I know that all these gentlemen claim to
be (prominent even) the friends of the Un~
ion. They would sooner abolish slavery
than that the Union should perish. They
would exert a military despotism in the
South for the sake of the Union, They are
so passionate in their love that they would
sacrifice law, liberty, the Constitution itself
to save the Union. Well, the Union, to
which they are so devoted, is one fir which
I confess I have no respect or attachment, —
I know no Union but our Constitutional Un-
ion of free and equal States. It is an abuse
ernment, but have even made no slight caca
rifices of partisan feeling in its support.—
They have defended the President when ma
ny of the professed partisans have assailed
bim, and if, as I continue to hope, and be-
lieve he shall prove true to himself and to
his country, he may, perhaps, find among
them some of his best friends and firmest
supporters.
I have written somewhat at length, be-
cause, having no opportunity of personal
consultation, it is only in this way that |
can present to you, and through you to other
friends 1n the city, the reason of my course.
My opinions and my felings upon this sub-
forborne from factions opposition to the Gov-
of words to call anything else the Union, —
Upon the new platform, Phillips, who de-
clares that for twenty years he has been the
ject are both strong. 1 am, and have been
from the beginning, in favor of putting down
the rebellion by force of arms. But I am
enemy of the Union, and Garrison, who for-
merly stigmatized it as a compact with hell,
and both Union men. It is the opinion of
these gentlemen that the law of Gol and the
Constitution of the United States are at vas
riance with each other. and therefore they
sought the overthrow of the Union, but they
have been converted since it has been dis-
covered that one may be an cuemy of the
Constitution, and yet a friend of the Union.
So, Mr. Gerritt Smith, who satin a seat of | sist it, so long as the white race chould sure
for mercy, for humanity, for Constitutional
aw and liberty ; and I abhor the fanati cal
would pat the whites in chains, and con-
demn to misery and despair eight millions
of people of our own race and blood. 1
know, indeed, that this atrocious schemejcan
never be accomplished ; I know that the
North would never support a war for this
purpose ; I know that the South would re.
honor at the New York meeting, informs us | vive; I know that all Chiistendom “would
in his circular, though he hates the Consti- [rise and forbid it. The end, reached a last
tution he loves the Union. would be the dissolution of the Union, bat
The legislative address invites to the pro after the most frigtful expenditure of money
posed Union convention ‘all Republicans, {and sacrifice of life.
Union Democrats, and other loyal citizens.” | [ am confident, my dear ‘sir, that after
This implies that all Republicans areloyal ; | some experiment, perhaps you will at last
that disloyalty may be found among Dem. | reach the conclusion at which I have arrived,
ocrat and other citizens, but nowhere else. For myself I see no use in meeting with gen-
Such is not my opinion. We are in arms | tlemer with whom I am sure beforehand to
against the disloyal men of the South, and disagree, The whole basis of the proposed
none here now oppose the war. 1 believe orgamzation is wrong. It wants the vital
that individuals may be found in the North, principle of a Union party, fidelity to the
who sympathize with the rebels and wish | Constitution. Tt imposes a test that the
them success. Bat it would be absurd to | Southern Union men will not admit. It em.
organize a political party against persons so | braces men who ought to be excluded, and
few and insignificant, and who dare oly | excludes those whose co-operation is essen-
speak in a whisper. The disloyal men of | tial. It is but the Republican party with-
the North, from whom danger is to be ap- lout the Republican party name ; and I fear
prehended, are they who seek to convert the its tendency may be to strengthen the radi-
war into a war for the emancipation of the | cal branch of that party, and to weaken that
black race, by means of the overthrow of the | portion which is best disposed to support
Constitution. Whera are these men to be | the President In a Conservative and Const
found 2 Sumner is one of them ; Wadean- | tutional policy.
other ; Thaddeus Stevens a thud. It there If T am not mistaken, the Executive Com
are Dewocrats or other citizens among them | mittee of tlre « Constitutional Union patty
I think they will be found to fraternize with { of 1860 still survives, and you and myself
the Republicans, or rather to be in a trans. fare both members of it. Indeed. 1 suppose
formation state, Is it not plain that if we | that it is in that eapacity your Bi
need a Union party at the North, it isin or. addressed to me. * r
der to defeat the schemes of these mea i= { Beso good as to communicate my answer
But how Say that be, if they are invited to, ype oiler gentlemen of the Committee, as
take part in the movement ? I suppose the question to which it relates
There is no resemblance between this { may come before them ; and helieve me sin
movement and that which resulted in the cerely, your
nomination of the Union ticket in this State |
last fall. There was then a show of opposi-
tion to the war at the North, but no differ.
ence as to its purpose. We all thea were or * The invitation was addressed by Mr.
proposed to be Constitutional Union men. { Brown, whose name was placed at the head
Now all opposition to the war has disap | of the Legislative Caucus Committee. to Mk.
peared, but a controversy has arisen as to | Duer, because he 1s not only a member of
3 ads | the present Constitutional Gnion Committee
the object for which it shall be prosecuted ; [ but also because he is one of the Committee
whetlier to establish the Constitution or to of the Syracuse Union organization of 1861,
overthrow it, and reduce the South to the | Which nominated the State ticket elected
friend and servant,
WILLIAM DUER.
| E. J. Brown, Esq., New York.
in any quarter having the slightest influence
upon publie opinion.
The messages and speeches of the Presie
dent ; the proclamations of his Genecarls
pledging the pul lic faith to the people of
the invaded States, and of which his mere
silence was an approval and confirmation :
the resolution of Congress passed almost
unanimously, only two Republicans voting
against them in the House of Representa-
tives ; the language of the press and of pop-
ular meeting--all united in declaring that
the war was to be prosecuted, not to subju-
gate the South, nor to change Southern in-
stitutions, nor to deprive Southern men of
their property or rights, but simply to es-
tablish the authority of the Constitution over
all the States. LE ey
Such were the appeals and assurances un
der which the war commenced. But when
we had half a million of men in arms ; when
our armies were filled with Democrats and
others, who volunteered to fight for this
cause and not for abolition ; when Mary-
land, Kentucky and Missouri, relying upon
our promises, had sent loyal men to Con
gress, opened their territories to our troops
and placed themselves in our power—then
first we heard that slavery, being the cause
of the war, slavery must be destroyed. It
is'notorious, that at this day a large por.
tion (to say the least) of the Republican par-
ty repudiate these pledges and trample e ven
on their own Chicago platform. Th ey are
the open advocates of the abolition of slavery
in the States, and measures of confiscation
80 sweeping and relentless, that their like
has not been known since the day of Wil-
liar gthe Conquerer, They have theories,
ge | theories. Some of them maintain
Piha Mae seceded States are out of the Union
and therefore have no rights. They adopt
the doctrine of secession, attaching to it a
consequence that enhances its absurdity, —
The States, they say, are gone as States, but
remain as territories, subject to absolute
power. This is the theory of Mr. Sumner.
It is the theory adopted by a great meeting
in the city of New York, over which a son
of Alexander Hamilton presided. Others
derive their power to abolish slavery from a
different source. It may be done, they say,
by the war power—in other words, by des
. potic power. Who can bound the war pow-
er? And to what a miscrable state must
condition of a conquered province. Upon | last year, and now holding off Ie
this question, the only political question | IveNriry oF A Lea. —The St. Louis Dene
that really divides the people of the North, | oorar says :
a true Union party cannot be neutral or si- Lydia Cooper, a feminine biped of very
lent,
expansive and brilliant plumage, was placed
For twelve years past I have thought thay yesterday morning at the Recorder’s bar for
there was a necessity for a Constitutional
alleged disturbance of the peace. It fran.
Union party. I wished that such a party | spired that, on Tuesday, she ordered a car-
might be formed in 1850. I hoped for it
riage, seated her self regally therein, protru«
again in I860. T think that loyal Demo~
ded one of her legs conspicuously out of the
crats, loyal Republicans, and all other loyal | window, and in this posture rode in state
wen ought to unite and form such a party through the principal streets of the amazed
now. The basis of such an organization, metroplis. As indignant citizens and stars
(which might be temporary, leaving present attempted to arrest her progress, she only
parties to resume their former relations extended the member farther and rode the
when the Union shall be restored) may be | faster—but suddenly fonnd her steed halted
found in the resolutions adopted by the com- | aud herself in severe custody. While a wit-
mittee of conservative members of Congress, ness was giving testimony to this and simi-
of which Crittenden was chairman. But [ |}, purport, Lydia eyed him with an air of
look 1n vain for any such declaration as the supreme fearlessness ard contempt, and,
times demand in the address and resolutions when he had concluded, triumphantly de
adopted by the (so called) Union members manded of him whether he could identify
of our State Legislature. There is much the leg which he saw out of the window !—
there about slavery : but little or nothing | Could he swear it was her leg ? This anni
about the Constitution. There is no decla- hilating inquiry she put with an emphasis
ration against abolition or general confisea and volubility that would certainly have re-
tion ; no assurance to loyal Southern men sulted in her discharge, had not the Recor.
that their rights shall be respected ; no re. | gop terminated the case by imposing a fine
cognition of any rights remaining to the peo~ fof $10,
ple of the seceded States ; no condemnation
of that most absurd form of secessionism
which converts States into territories, and
erects a military despotism upon the ruins
of the Constitution, The play of Hamlet
with the part of Hamlet left out is not more
ridiculous than a Union party that leaves
out the Constitution.
I entertain the hope that the conservative
men of the North will in some way unite and
act in concert with the loyal citizens of
Kentucky, Maryland and all other Southern
States that are or may = become free from
the usurped power of Jefferson Davis. I
trast that there will be some movement for
this purpose at Washington before the ad
journment of Congress. But whether this
shall be accomplished or not, 1 certainly can
enter into no combination with Republicans
to overthrow the Democrats of this State. —
Whatever faults they may have committed
in the past, the Democrats of the North are
'n the main loyal and patriotic ; they are
the chiel bulwark against the assaults of
the Northern disunionionists ; upon them
rests in a great degree the hope of the Un.
Braayy,—A young couple were sitting to-
gether in a romantic spot, with birds and
flowers about them, when the following di-
alogue ensued :
¢ My dear, if the sacrifice” of my
would please thee, most gladly would I
it at thy feet,”
Oh, sir, you are too kind! but it re-
minds me that I wish you would stop using
tobacco,”
** Can’t think of it.
I am wedded.” .
+ Very well, sir, since this is the way you
lay down your life for me; and as you are
already wedded to tobacco, I'll take good
care you are never wedded to me, as it
would be bigamy.”
— Emme a 2
A New Camp or INstruoTION,--We learn
that it has been determined speedily to es-
tablish a new camp. of instruction in the im-
mediate vicinity of Anvapolis, Md, It will
be under the direction and superintendence
of Major General Wool, U. 8. A., and will
number some 50,000 troops. —Washington
life
lay
It's a habit to which
that country be reduced, where it shall be
ion. They have not only magnanimously | Star.
spirit that to liberate the degraded Afncans |
THE SONG OF THE CONTRABAND.
All in the chilly month of May,
A Contraband went up Proadway.
Faint and sick and all unfed,
He knew not where to lay his head.
Ehufiling along in the chilly air,
And as he shaflled and shuffled along,
His faatures set in a vacant stare,
6 Dbelpless child in an alien land,
Pushed and spurned by the busy throng.)
He bummed the end of a bitter song,
And this was the song of the Contraband.
I don’t know whar dis darkey
At last is ine to rest;
Dey’ve stole him from ole Georgia,
Dey’ve driv him from da West.
De Norf rot i
An’ y
O goliy! but dis darkey’s
A Lord-forsaken case !
Cronus :—De Abolition S’ciety
us men and broders—
I tink I hear enuff!
Dey tole mo I war better
Dan if my skin war white,
Dey spoke so kind and gontle,
So 'mazin’ly polite,
I tho’t de Norf war waitin’
For dis old fool to come
An’ lib wid dem foreber,
Wid ebery house a home!
Cuorus :—De Abolition S'ciety, &o.
Oh, dey war playin’ possum!
’Spose now, it troubles dem,
(So long s dey spito my massa)
What com bh Unole CrLex?
"No sar! and so dis darkey,
Because he had no sense,
War possumed by de Yankees,
And left upoa de fence !
Cronus :—De Abolition S’ciety, &e.
Now who will take dis darkey
Afore he’s "pletely froze,
And gin him for his lahor
De hos enka and de clothes ?
Lar’s Massa Wendell Phillips, »
What preaches bout de sin
Ob slabery, I wonder
Lf Ze would take me in ?
Corus :—De Abolition S'ciety, &o.
I wish I war in Georgia,
Dat dear old land again,
Among de flowerin’ cotton,
Among de sugar-cane :
Den ef a yankee preacher,
3 lyin’ bout de Lord,
An’ chains aw’ things—by golly,
1'd knock him wid a gourd!
Cuorus :—De Abolition S'ciety, &e.
FT ro
A GHOST STORY. *
A gentleman took a fancy to a certain el-
egant villa mn a charming part of one of the
Dyveliest counties in England. On inquiring
about the rent, it seemed to hini ‘so extra-
ordinary low that he objected to take it, sus
pecting that there mast ba something rads
ically wrong in the building. The propri-
ctor assured him there was nothing of the
kind, but informed him that the objection
mn the neighborhood to the villa, was that 1t
had the repatation of being haunted. He
laughed at the vnlgar superstition,
and at once accepted the terms and moved
into the cottage. Ile was not very long in
it before him of
strange noises which they had repeatedly
heard in the night. They had distinetly
listened to the opening of a door, and heard
the steps of a man ascending the stairs. —
Another door was then opened, water was
poured out, and the sound of washing bands
was unmistakably audible. After a short
time the window was opened and the water
was thrown out ; the window was then clo
sed, and shortly after, steps were heard as-
cending, and the house door opened and
then elosed. This, the servants declared
they had severally and collectively listened
to numerous times. The gentleman conld
not gainsay their statements; for himself
and his wife had at different times listened
to the same unacountable proceedings.
On one occasion particularly, on tne ars
rival of the ghost at the house door, several
persons went out to meet him. He ascended
as usual, the stair case : went through his
regular ablutions, and departed as was his
custom. But thcugh they followed him,
their ears alone were convinced of hiss pre-
tence. They could see nothing, notwith"
standing every one of the party was provi
ded witha light. These nocturnal visits
were continued so regularly, that the gen-
tleman was al last compelled to abandon the
villa, for the simple reasou, that no servants
would remain th ere with him.
Hereis a poser! We way laugh at the
credulity of those who are frightened at
ghosts and at mysterious sounds, but
how are we to account for them ? T remem
ber having heard that at the Patersville in
the county of Meath, the sound of Colonel
Tucker's footsteps periodically terrified and,
perhaps still terrifies, the present inmates,
although the veteran to whom the property
belonged departed this life many years
ago.
The only rational explanation of these
phenomena was adduced by our fellow tray
eler, the Americar consul. According to
him, apertures in the ground, or subterras
nean cavities, forming natural tubes, often
his domestic informed
act as conductors of sound, so that what
may be done in one house, at a distance,
will be audible in another, He remembered
iin a hotel in his State (Delaware) the sound
of the trampling of horses in a stable, which
was situated some 200 yards off, was heard
as distinctly as if the horses had occupied
the chambers of the hotel. Many ghost
stories and mysterious rappings can, no
doubt, be explained upon the same princi.
ple. © °
a
the world, and who is not tired of it, says :
—¢ The grand essentials to happiness in
this hife are: Something to do, soemthing to
love, and something to hope fur.’
17 A good man, who has seen much of
CATER
BalTLE FIELD. |
THE HORRORS OF WAR—THF DEAD IN
i
BAPS—GHASTLY SPECTACLE—POS- |
TURES OF THE SLAIN. !
The correspondent of the New York L»-
press, from Fair Oak station, June the 6th |
inst., writes as follows: |
I paid a visit to the battle field of Sati
day and Sunday, called by some the Bat. |
tle of the Seven Pin i
camp of Casey's division presented a sight |
which aft artist might envy, and yet one of
desolation. All around Iny charred ruins, |
clothing, guns, cartridge boxes, &e., the |
property mainly of our own troops The
whole camp was just as level, as the Russ
dy ;
me
. Here it was where |
e their appearance on
Saturday, and where they so badly drove
back our men. A little further on is a piece
of woods, and by walking through water
and wud knee deer, one is enabled to inves.
tigate 1ts contents,” The bark: of nearly ev
ery tree is peeled off toward the roots, the
rifle balls and canister fired into the forest
Uy our men, having taken down the trees
about as lively as they did the rebels,
Letters. guns by the dozens, both Secesh
and Union, clothing enough to start half the
Chatham street in business, new made
graves, yet unburied bodies, and all the
mor indications of battle and death from
{one of the saddest scenes ever witnes-ed on
{ th Virginia Peninsula, In a swamp we |
found cight Lodiss of Alabamians close tos
gether and in such a state of decomposition
| that hardly & man saw them without turn-
ing away his head. Their clothes were on, |
but the bodits were so swollen, that they
fitted as tight as the skin itself. In severaj
cases the flesh had already been eaten off
by vermin and the skull lay bara. Tt was a
disgusting scene, which some people might
have scen with profit, But 1t ought to be
added, that our people are burying the dead
just as fast as they can reich the remains.
pavement on 2
the enemy fist
of a rebel officer. lis clothing was rather
better than that of a large maj rity we saw,
and ether indications of rank were numer.
Ife lay concealed behind some brush,
and had evidently
ous,
n wounded, sought its
i shelter, and there died. The
j contracted, but on the faze there seemed to
rest a placid smile, One hind held on to a
rail fence near by, while the other was ex
tended upon the earth. . Like all the rest
the body was swelled to twice its nataral
size, and millions of vermm were fast do-
vouring it. S, a grave
was dug and the decaying flesh was consign
cd to its last resting place,
Another body was fodnd sitting on the
ground, the back braced’against a fenge.
The skin was peeling of the hands, and ung |
down (rom the fingers in shreds. One hand |
i rested on the wusket, whose contents bad |
been dischasged. The head Arooped to one |
limbs were
Calling come
|
— |
1
side, and the features were fearfully con
tracted evidencing a dymg struggle of a mos |
painful nature. In his vest pocket there
was a piece of paper, and curiosity prompt
ed me to read it. Thire was soe
bling upon it, the distinguishable words be-
ing, « Eighth Ala., will never yield.” «No!
sir, never,” Then some poetical lines, of
which, amid the blood and dirt, T succeeded
in deciphering the following :
¢* Supuose we die upon the field ? |
"Twill prove that never will wo yield;
"L'will show the fue that like a fl od,
We'll pour for Southern rights our blood.”
Below this wero these words :
¢¢ The womanwho wrote that, a Southern
man ought to marry ; a Northern one, she
would spurn.”
A curiosity seeker might have collected a
bushel of letters in the woods so full of hor
rors, but I had not the heart for the task.
To show how desperate was the struggle
in the heavy woods belween Casey's and |
Ward's camp, 1 have spoken of the bullet |
marks upon the trees, of the dead and of)
their effects, everywhere seen. Another in” |
dication was the clothing, yet hanging upon |
scribe.
two tree branches, fenzes aud lying up'n|
the ground. An officer engaged 1n the bat
tle tells me that when we pursued, on Sun- |
which, on Saturday, they drove us, a des-|
perate encounter ensued. |
Hundreds of men, on both sides, throw off!
as we were told the Sixty-ninth did at Bull |
Run, stripped almost to the waist. Those |
who had the opportunity, placed their coats |
where they wanld be preserved ; others. |
|
with no time for that, threw them on the |
ground, and lost them with their lives. — |
Within a space of two acres there are un- |
gathered arms enough to supply a New |
York militia regiment. Tn that small space |
nearly six hundred men were sent to their |
long account.
At Casey's oid camp there were no hu.
man bodies, as there 1t was an easy matter
o dispose of them immediately zfter the
fight. But hundreds of horses, torn by shot
and shell, lay all around, the carcasses
emitting a pestilential stench, On Sunday
when we were again in possession of this
field, men and animals lay clogs together —
“ Rider and steed in one red burial blent ?’
The animals are now being burned, as
that is the only way in which they can he
disposed of, and the horrid effiuvia removed
from its close contact with our camp, Up-
en approaching this spot, it requires consid-
erable effort to lead a man to walk up to it,
the recking oder being so offensive. To-
direct rail.
road line from this camp to Richmond 18
Just seven miles. 4 Fair Oak ” is the name
of the station. A building near the switch
is now used as a hospital, mainly for the
rebel wounded, ard right oppositeare the
head quarters of General Meagher and his
Irish Brigade.
Speaking of the hospital at this station
Mets s ‘minds » that ot on v 1 3 |
“this morning. The | feWin Is me that our men yet fird wounded
rebels in the woods. Yesterday
three were discovered under
One had a le amputated ju
by a rebel doctor, who is wit
had a foot taken off, and
another an arm.
two or
ns brush —
ions ; ano her yet
low the knee |
th his comp n- |
Without conveniences “for 1
DESPTEA
SLAUGHTER.
The New York Commercial publishes the
| following extract trom a private letter from
en artilleryman who participated in the late
fight before Richmond. The description of
| the rebels steady advance in the face o
such destiuctive firing rermnds us of the
* old guard” under Marshall Noy, at Wat-
loo:
| Botrou’s Bridge, June, 1.
| About 11 o'clock (on Saturday, May 31)
| the enemy sent a couple of 6 pound balls
| over into our camp, and immediately com»
| menced the attack by driving our pieketsin,
proper treatment, the operation seemed
The suflerers wero seated up-
rel, and held by a couple of wen.
| Our division was quickly formed ia lina of
battle ; a strong force was sent to Suppo: ¢
very harsh,
on a
ia Babe in th? Woods. so to
I saw one body. which was evidently that |’
linto a harty arf, and told him that
i minds, their chacks
bie
day the fleeing rebels to the wonds through |
superfluous clothing and went fat
I Oo
morrow 1s condition will be favorable
»
submitted to the painful treatment. Al
around were the amputated parts, ard pools
jof blood. Seated against a tree near by was
a rebel soldier well elad in a suit of Con.
federate gray, with a bullet hole in bith
¢3. The missle had passed in on one
side and come out upon ths other. His
lace was Besmearel with clotted gore, and
ving to long neglect (the Federals had
d him) it was impossible for him
te. The very picture of wisery,
1
tunate man sat ropped azainst a.
free, await his curn for treatment On
blankets near by, were haif a dozen who
ul operation. Others
, looked around them with a
ned gaze, wiinessing the work of
Dozens of our own men
were at hand, and in silence saw tne fate,
which yet awaits so many. All these ho ~
rors of war, one wants to see tu! once.
pale and w
half fright
their surgeons.
eee eto
ARTEMUS WARD VISITS THE 3HA-
KERS.
“Mr. Shaker,” sed I “you see before you
speak, and he
axes shelter of you,”
© Yay,” sed t'e Shaker, and he led the
way into the house, another shaker bein
sent to put my horse and wagon unler kiv
er.
sninwhat
uto a long
«cum in and axel was I athurst,
? to which I urdanely an.
¢ went orf and [ end 'vered
A solum lookin female lookin
like a last year's n pole stu
meal
and did I hunger
a
serd a few.’
S
to open a conversation with the old
“Eider. [I spect 2 sed I.
“Yay he sed.
“Ielth’s good IT reckon.”
tr Yay.
** Whats the wages of a Elder, when he
man.
understans his bizness—~or d> yon devote
| Your sarvices gratooitus 27’
ti¥ay,
¢ Sjormy night, sir 17
‘ > 1
“If the storm continners there'll be a
mess under foot, hay ?”
¢ Yay.”
“IE unpleasant when there's a mess
underfoot 27
4 Yay. £
“If1 may be so bold, kind sir, what's
the price of that pecoolar kind «f wescot
you wear, incloodin trimmings 1"
“Vay.”
Iy d a minnit, and then thinkin 1d
be fa that
would go, I'slapt hm on the shoulder, bust
as a
h him and see low
shus wit
yayyer he had no livin ckal.
"He jumped up as if Bilen water had been
squirted into his ears. grosned, r 1:d hi
eyes up tords the sealin and sud:
* You're a man of sin!”
Ie then walkt out of the room.
PUSS IN THR CORNER.
Direckly thar eum two Shae
keresses ns putty and slick lookin gals as I
in
oe
yonng
ever met, It is troo they were dressed in
meal bags like the old one I'd met
and thar shiny silk har was hid from sight
by lonz white caps, sichas I spose female
Josts wear shut their eyes sparkled like di-
was liké roses, and
they was charmin enuft to make a man thro
tuns at his granduiother if they axed him
They commenst clearing away the
dishes castin shy glances at me all the time.
I got excited. [I forgot Betsy Jane in my
‘sez T ‘my pretty dears how aip
previsly
1apter,
you
“ We air well,” they solumly sed.
“Whars the the old man 22 ged [ in a
sof t voice.
© Of whom
Uriah 27
“1 mean the gay and festive cuss who
calls me a man of sin. Shouldn't wonder if
his name was Uriah 2";
‘He has retired.”
« Wall my pretty dears,” sed I, ‘let's
have sum fun. Lets play puss in the cor
ner. What say?"
*¢ Air you a Shaker #’ they axed.
« Wall, my pretty dears, T havn't array.
ed my proud form in a long wiskit yit, but
if they was all like you perhaps I'd Jine ‘em
As itis, I'm a Shaker pro. temporary.”
They was full of fun. Y seed that at fust
only they was a little skeery. 1 tawt ‘em
puss in the corner and sich like plase, and
we had a nice tine, keepin quiet of course
80 the old man couldn’t hear. When we
dost thou speak— Brother
.
broke up, seys 7 my pretty dears, car I go
you have no objections, hav you, to a inner~
sent kiss at partin ?
* Yay," they sed, and 7 yay'd °
roost
tig 4
177 Death is the condition of our creation
it is & part of us, and while we endeavor to
evade it, we evade ourselves.
the pickets, and a rifled battery of four guns
was ordered up to the right and opened fire.
We were all ready for anything that might
come, but not for a moment. did we deem
that we had on our bands one of thy mag
fiercely fought battles that has taken placa
during the rebellion. The pickets soon be
gan to fire rapidly and came running in,
| while the infantry posted behind a fence to
| suprort them, blazed away into the wood .
{ The artillery on.onr right opened fire and
| mingled their thunder with the sharp roll of
[ the musketry. Sion our Napoleon gunc,
three of which were posted in an onfinished
j redoubt, und three on the left near a Yifle
| pit, opened with case shot, which went
whizzing through the air, over the heads of
| our men, right into ths midst of the enemy,
| and there exploding scattering death throng
"their ranks On the left of the rebels were
| seen coming through the woods to flank us,
and wheeling three of our gun sn as to bear
| upon them, we poured case shot among them
with unexampled rapidity and terrible efi
ect,
The desuwuction was horrible. Our
spherical case shot aro awful missiles, each
i of them consisting of & clotted mass of gey-
| enty six musket bal's, with a charge of
{ powdcr in the cen're, that is fired by a fuse
the sanfe as a shell. The missile firs! nots
| as a solid shot, ploughing its way through
, masses of men, and then exploding, hurls
| forward a show usket balls that mow
Ld wa the foc in heaps. Our battery threw
| twenty four of these a winute, and as we
| 2¢ of every part of the field
frightful effect. But
my were not at «ll daunted. They
i marched steadily on, and hailed a perfect
tempest of balls vpon us. Why, we as well
| 8s our horses, were nct every one shot down
! will forever remain a mystery to me. Wao
| did not mind the leaden hail however, bat
| kept pouring our cass shot nto the dense
{ masses of the foe, who came on in prodigious
| aud overwhelming force ; and they fought
|
| splendidly too. Our shot tore their ranks
| wide open, and shattered them asunder in a
manner that was frightful to witness : but
(they closed again at once, and came on
as steadily as English veterans.
When they got within four hundred yards
| we closed with our cass shot and opened on
| them with cannister, and such destraction I
never elsewhere witnessed. At cach dis~
charge great gaps were made in their ranks
{ —iadeed whole companies wentdown before
, that murderous fire , bat they closed up
| with an order and diclipine that was truly,
| inspiring. They seemed to be animated with
| the courage of despair blended with the:
{ hope of a speedy victory, if they could by
{ ar overwhelming rash drive us from our
| position.
It was to see their ranks tora and shat-
| fered by every discharge of cannister that
we poured right into their faces, and while:
their dead and dying lay in piles, they cl »
sed up; and still kept advaneidg right into
the faze f that fire.
At one time three linos. one behind anothy
were steadily advancing, and three of
of their flags were brought in range of our
guns shotted with cannister.
“Fire!” shouted tho gunuer,
went those three flags, and
er,
and down
0 4 Zap was open-
ed through those lines as if. a thunderbolt
bad torn through them, and the dead lay in
swaths. But they al once closed up and
came steadily on, never wavering or halting
right through the woods, over the fence.
through the fiell, right up to our guns, and
sweeping everything before them, .captured
every piece.
When we delivered our last fire, they
were within fificen or twenty paces of us,
and as all our horses had been killed or
wounded, we could not carry off a gun. —
Our whole division was cut to pieces, with
what loss Tdo nat know. We fell back to
a second line of entrenchments, and there
held tho enemy in cheek’until reinforcements
arrived, and then we kept our position till
aight put an end to the battle. This morn-
ing the fight was renewed, and we have dri.
ven the enemy back and regained possesion
of our camp,
: Le Ce
057 The following is suggested as a
suitable epitah for John Bell's Tomb-
stone :
Here lies John Bell,
"This marble under ;
He's gone to—well
[ shouldn't wonder.
—————————
07 It is stated that Beauregard is in sore
want of money. This is strange, when wo
consider what a big check Buell and Grant
larely gave him on the bank of the Tenne.
LCN
|