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ion. Not to sadden, but to sanctify, are these i
terrible conditions by Which victory has been
purchased to be remembered. I would elevate i
our rejoicing above a mere ebullition of buoyant *
passion, of pride, of military glorifying, and love
of conquest, into a region of higher and holier
feelings. If I have remembered that our victo
ries are shouted over our brave soldier's graves
and in the midst of thousands of bereaved homes,
it is because I have also remembered that the
highest joy is achieved only through sorrow '>
and I would lift up this hour of victory above
the boisterous shoutingsof the streets, not to take
from it its glory, but that we may see it clothed
in a more exalted glory. I remember that the
highest glory that Avas given to the earth, was
won by the offering of the most precious blood
that the earth ever nourished. It was a joy for
man when Christ Avas born; Avell might Angels
have sung over his cradle, "Peaceon earth, good
will towards men ;" yet it was not in Bethlehem,
but on Calvary, that the highest joy he had to
give was perfected ;it was from the Cross that
he led " captivity captive, " and gave his richest
gifts to men ; for not until his fidelity AVas per
fected by this perfect sacrifice, was it crowned
with the highest glory.
Human affection, physical weakness, shrank
for a moment from that dreadful test. Involun
tarily came the utterance, "Now is my soul
troubled; and what shal 1 I say ! Father, save
me from this hour!" No» not that; not for a
moment could the unsubmissive thought be en
tertained. The contending forces were too grand
to admit such an element, the issue too mighty
to be risked on such a weakness; it was truth
contending With error, light with darkness, right
eousness with violence; was any life, even his,
too precious to give for Truth and Right and
Righteousness? No, not to be saved! The hu
man within him might for a moment make that
prayer, but the divine was too strong; for this
A r ery hour, this very crisis, had he come into the
world ; it was the hour of deepest agony,- yet it
was the hour of highest triumph; it was the hour
of greatest sacrifice; it was the hour therefore of
the most exalted glorification. And so the holy
lips prayed, not to be spared, but with lolly
snbmissiveness, "Father, glorify thy name;"
and though he Avent to the cross, he walked as
though to victory—now " the hour is come, that
the Son of Man should be glorified^"
So, my friends, I would lift this hour of victo
ry into the region of these highest sanctities of
suffering and grief, in order thereby to show it
in its aspect of divinest glory. The nation to
day stands glorified, because it has been crucified.
It has borne the pangs of mortal agony that it
may AVear the crown of immortal life. It has
given its hartds and its feet to the cruel nails, its
side to the boisterous thrust of the spear, its
whole body to the inhuman usages of violence,
in order that it may ascend to the serene heights
of heavenly peace. The stripes are laid upon
us, but we are healed ; our brothers lie slain on
the gory fields of battle, our homes have become
fountains of tears, but the country is thereby
purified and redeemed—We are made desolate,
but full of glory.
" Tho hour is come that the Son of Man should
bo glorified." Tho greatest glory of these times,
even of this hour, lies not in the triumph of bat
tle-fields ; not in the victories of physical force ;
not in the splendid successes of military skill;
not even in the saving of a nation's life; but it
lies in the noble qualities of manhood that the
time has callod forth; in tho Wonderful life of
the hour; in tho capacities for firm endurance
and uncomplaining suffering that are every
where displayed ; in the heroism, devotion, and
self»saorifice with which so many youth and men
«t the noblest -tamp have left all that was at
tractive at home to give themselves to their coun
try in the beautiful submissiveness and heroic
generosity of the homes that have opened their
doors, and consented to be robbed of their dear
est treasures, that the nation and humanity may
be enriched; in the hopeful sympathies and
charities that have made every community and
almost every home among us holier; in the ex
traordinary fortitude shown everywhere by the
wounded soldiers in the hospitals; and, finally,
in the triumph which, through all these sublime
qualities and deeds, is being achieA'ed for the sa
cred principles that are the true inspiration of
the nation's life.
Humanity in its noblest phases is being glori
fied in the life of this hour. I have seen homes
which have sent forth their sons to the battle
field—only sons, it may be—and sent them never
to return. I haA r e expected to find these homes
in need, perhaps, of some word of consolation ;
but I have come away feeling that I have noth
ing to give, that I could only receive ; for I have
found them enriched beyond all my poor posses
sion—hearts there with such a tenderness of af
fection that one must think they would break
With grief, yet borne up by a Avondrous strength,
and resting in a wondrous peace—homes dark
ened, it Avould seem, by the loss of everything
that made them the dear spots they were, yet il
luminated by a light of divine glory—and though
I went to strengthen I have come away morti
fied by my own spiritual poverty, and feeling
Avith sorrow how little I had entered into the real
grandeur of the life of this time.
As an illustration of another of the high phases
of life of which I have spoken—the fortitude with
Avhich our soldiers endure suffering (and it is
something which has been noted since the be
ginning of the war) —let me quote the testimony
of an eminent physician, Dr. Bowditch, who
spent several days in one of the large hospitals
near the battle-field of Antietam. He says :
" I was amazed at the quiet, uncomplaining
fortitude displayed by our suffering soldiers. It
was a most interesting psycological phenomenon,
and it was all but universal. It raised my esti
mate of human nature, and thereby raised me,
my own individual nature, to a higher grade of
existence. The memory of those sufferings, so
nobly borne, will ever be a stimulus to me to
bear serenely the greatest ills of civil life.
*******
" Among the bravest of the brave, one (a young
Zouave) was slowly but surely dying of a ghastly
wound in the thigh. He had been lying nearly
motionless for about ttta weeks. He had a pe
culiarly fine, intellectual countenance, pallid
with the approach of death. His tall, well-knit
form had the rounded, muscular development of
a right manly youth. His skin was of the purest
white and finest texture, and of almost girlish
softness; his deportment eminently quiet and
dignified. I never saw him smile but once, and
that when the surgeon in charge remarked that
the " Zouaves are always brave." Ho looked, in
fact, like a young Christian warrior who felt that
he had fought bravely his last fight in a noble
cause, and now was quietly preparing for the
coming doom, serenely waiting for death, as the
greatest boon that could be vouchsafed to him in
the intensity of his suffering. From tho fright
ful nature of his wound those sufferings must
' have been torture, but he made no complaint.—
i Nay, he rather blamed his own want of fortitude I
for allowing even a few low moans to escape his
lips. "Do we cause you too much suffering?" I
inquired of him, on one occasion, when Aye were
moving him, and he uttered a word indicating
great anguish. "Oh, no," ho replied, "I am
only regretting that I cannot restrain thesH
moans." In his presence, I seemed before one
of a superior nature, physically, intellectually,
and morally. There was a silent, natural lan
guage about him that spoke thus much to eA-ery
understanding heart. A certain nameless, al
most divine influence, appeared to emanate from
the simple pallet of straw, and the dying young
patriot silently poured into the hearts of all
around him a portion, at least, of his own serene
and holy thought. I saw him often, and he had
always that same noble deportment. I could
not forbear entering his tent whenever I passed
by. Every moment spent in ministering to him
even by a word, was a blessing vastly greater to
myself than it could be to tbe sufferer."
Humanity, my friends, is indeed glorified in
this hour. How can any of us continue to live
meanly in the midst of such noble and magnan
imous life as is being shown all around us ? How
can any of us continue to grovel in selfishness,
when wo are inA'ited to such holy heights of self
sacrifice ? How can any of us continue to look
for ease and luxury and self-gratification as the
way of enjoyment, when Aye see that it is by the
cross that life is made glorious? Brave men!
brave women ! you that are giving yourselves,
you that are giving those dearer than self —it is
through you that these triumphs have been
achieved, it is through you that this hour is glo
rified ; and in your sacrifice the Son of Man is
glorified anew; and the glory which the Father
has giA'cn unto him does he giA T e unto you.
A Loyal Cavalry RkgiMest of A_abamianh.
—It is not generally known, perhaps, that we
have a cavalry regiment composed wholly of loy
al Alabamians. The regiinout was raised in Cor
inth, Mississippi, and is made up of refugees.
It now numbers more than twelve hundred men,
having for duty at present, about nine hundred
out of the twelve. The manner of recruiting was
singular and venturesome, and is thus described
by a correspondent of the Now York Post :
" Men, acquainted with the country were sent
from the camps to the Union counties in Ala
bama, travelling at night and through the wood
to aA-oid observation; in that way penetrating a
distance of from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred miles. They would then hide them
selves in the caves of the mountains, and by
stratagem manage to communicate with the
Union men. After having got together forty or
fifty men willing to run the risk of attempting to
gain the Federal lines, they would start cautious
ly, travel by night, and through the woods,
strenuously avoiding the public roads till out oi
reach of danger. Under eA'ery trial this mode
succeeded admirably, Corinth being reached
safely in each instance. This was carried on so
, successfully for some time that Governor Shorter
of Alabama offered ten thousand dollars reward
for the body of any Federal recruiting officer
taken in the State."
One officer travelled upward of two hundred
miles, and returned with one hundred and ten
recruits, besides twelve prisoners and a valuable
rebel mail. Since the organization of the regi
ment it has been in constant and active service.
It has captured over nine hundred prisoners. It
has lost in one action, killed and wounded,
upward of one hundred men. It has destroyed
a vast deal of property belonging to the enemy,
in various raids. The regiment is commanded
I by Col. Geo. E. Spencer, who has asked leave to
■ raise a brigade, believing that he can raise three
i or four regiments in a short time.— Boston Tray.
