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 crnl The holy shield 
 
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 THE EOLY SHIELD. 
 
 [From "Myrtle Leaves."] 
 
 "How sleep tae brave who sink t<* rest, 
 By all their Country's wishes blest; 
 When spring with dewy fingers cold, 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
 She there shall dresa a. sweeter sod, 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 By fairy hauds their knell is rung, 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sang ; 
 There Honor comes a pilgrim gray, 
 To bless the turf that wrap§ their clay, 
 And freedom shall awhile repair 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 Among those who promptly responded 
 to the first call of our country in her strug- 
 gle for independence, WftsLieat. Manauni, 
 a son of Judge Mangam, of Orange Coun- 
 • ty, North Carolina. He joined the 6th N. 
 0. Regiment under the brave a:ul lament- 
 
ed Colonel Fisher. While the regiment 
 was in the camp 'of instruction, I visited 
 the beauti* il and happy hgme which he 
 had exchange d for the tented field. The 
 warm, true hearts he had left behind him, 
 were resigned and hopeful — though^affec- 
 tion would whisper to them of the trials 
 he would suffer and the dangers he 
 would meet. When I was leaving 
 a loving, and pious, sister said "Pres- 
 ton tells me that his Bible is too large 
 to be carried in his breast-pocket, and 
 I wish you to procure a small neat Tes- 
 tament for him, before he leaves for Vir- 
 ginia. Bibles have turned balls and may 
 do so again" I promised to comply ami 
 then with a smile which betrayed a sister's 
 love and christian faith, she bade me adieu. 
 Jn my effort to obtain a suitable Testament 
 I was unsuccessful, and the young soldier 
 kept theBible as his companion in the dread 
 triajs which were before him. A few days 
 only passed away, ere he'and his comrades 
 were marshalled :n the battle's front on 
 the Plains of Manassas. When the charge 
 was ordered, he bravely pressed to the on- 
 set and with waving sword and thrilling 
 voice cheered and rallied the heroic col- 
 
I 
 
 umn as it staggered before the fiery storm. 
 Ere long while standing by a battery from 
 which the enemy had been driven, he was 
 seen to raise his hand suddenly to Lis 
 breast then to stagger and fall. A ball had 
 struck him. He was borne from the field 
 to the hospital, and after a slight examina- 
 tion, pronounced mortally wounded. The 
 surgeons, however, discovered that the 
 ball had struck his Bible— and its force and 
 direction seemed to have been so affected 
 by it that he was saved from instant death. 
 When this was known, how thr.nkfnl was 
 she who gave him that blessed volume ! 
 And how I rejoiced that I could not find 
 a Testament, for that would have been so 
 small that it might not have shielded his 
 heart ! In this we saw the hand of the 
 Father and were thankful. But the 
 wound was fatal and when the battle en- 
 thusiasm was over, he feared that he 
 would not recover. It was then, that as 
 he looked within his bosom., he realized 
 his need of the sympathy of a greater 
 than man. Amid the confusion and tu- 
 mult and suffering around him he ear- 
 nestly looked to the Mercy- Seat and 
 through the merits of his Savior, leaned 
 
bis spirit on the bosom of Infinite Love. 
 As his mortal life was ebbing out at that 
 ghastly wound ©n his breast, eternal life 
 came t# him through the mercy bf Hea- 
 ven as it healed the wounds of bis soul. 
 Watching by his death-couch I heard 
 worcli of triumph from his panting lips 
 that it is very.eweet to remember. Those 
 words were made more beautiful and elo- 
 quent by the spirit-splendor which beam- 
 ed in his dark eye and spread like celes- 
 tial radiance over his calm and manly, 
 face. He told m© that he had been par- 
 doned since he was wounded. " I be- 
 lieve," said he, ** that. I am numbered 
 among those who are embraced in His 
 mercy." With melting emphasis be 
 quoted so»© stanzas of poetry-— a farewell 
 address to his distant mother. But a 
 short time before he died he turned to his 
 faithfal servant and said, * 'There is a 
 land where the wickad cease from 
 troubling and the weary are at rest." — 
 ^Tonelmt-those who heard him can ever 
 knaw what "deep and powerful meaning 
 he gave those precious words. He spoke 
 like one who had fied to that refuge and 
 was already reclining on the bosom of 
 
tli at heavenly rest. It was far more like 
 the voice of experience than the voice of 
 faith. 
 
 So talented — so heroic — so kind — it was 
 sad to strangers to see him die — 'twas 
 sadder|far, for the friend who had joined 
 him in the pleasures of boyhood and 
 shared with him tho sacred dreams of 
 yonth ! He has fallen in the first of his 
 fields, but he has not fallen forever. 
 
 " He sleeps his last sleep — he has fought 
 his last battle," but it can not be said of 
 him,, that 
 
 "No sound can n^ke him to glory again ;" 
 
 for in the day of the victory of the ran- 
 somed over the last and greatest foe, he* 
 shall be summoned to the shining ranks 
 by the celestial clarion and be crowned 
 with honors which shall be increasing in 
 rapture and glory, 
 
 "When victor's wreaths and monarch's gems, 
 Shall blend in common dust." 
 
 This assurance is sacredly cherished by 
 the bereaved and riven hearts that "still 
 
weep by his tomb. There is no genuine 
 balm in any other thought. AYe would 
 have our friends and kindred fall, if fall 
 they must in their Country's defence, with 
 a name unsullied and honor undimmed ; 
 but mere patriotism and daring can not 
 shed the light of * immortal hope above 
 their slumbering dust or lead their noble 
 spirits to a home of everlasting happiness. 
 It is well to receive the laurel-wreath for 
 devotion to a just and righteous cause — it 
 is infinitely better to be crowned with the 
 chaplet of Immortality in a land whose 
 honors perish not forever. ■ • 
 
 There you'll meet him again dear "mother," and 
 
 "sisters" 
 Wher.e the war cry will call him away, never more: 
 Where the rude sound of battle forever is silenced, 
 Where you'll know him, and love him as you have 
 
 heretofore. 
 
 We know that the household is dreary without him, 
 And the chain is now broken of fond earthly love; 
 Hut the links that are severed, will be reunited 
 In Heaven, sweet Heaven, that bright home above. 
 
DO THEY THINK OF ME AT HOME? 
 
 (Time: "My Old Kentucky Home." 
 
 Do they think of me at home, when the sun has left 
 the skies, 
 ► When the happy circle gathers round the hearth, 
 When the light of love is dancing in the bright, laugh- 
 ing eyes, 
 And the aged join with children in their mirth ? 
 
 Chorus — Tlomel Sweet Home ! Do they think of the 
 
 soldier there ? 
 Yes, we think of you by day, and we pray for you by 
 
 night, 
 We cannot, cannot cease to think of you. 
 
 Do they think of me at home, when the daily meal is 
 spread, 
 When the boys and girls have come to claim their 
 share ? 
 Do they all think of me, when the words of grace are 
 said, 
 And still look sadly at my vacant chair? 
 
 Chorus — Home 1 Sweet Home 1 Do they think of the 
 soldier there ? 
 
 Do they think of me at home, on the blessed Sab- 
 bath day, 
 When the servants of the Lord in prayer have 
 kpelt? 
 
* t g 
 
 When to heaven their hearts ascend, do they then re- 
 member me, 
 And ask for me the grace which they have felt? 
 
 Chorus — Home ! Sweet Home I Do they think of the 
 soldier there ? 
 
 .• 
 
 Yes ! we think of you at home, at the early dawn of 
 day, 
 When the sun is smiling on us as he parts, 
 When we work, when we rest, when we sing, when we 
 pray, ' 
 We think of you with loving, longing hearts. 
 
 Chorus — Home ! Sweet Home ! Do they think of the 
 soldier there ? 
 
 .A il ft* livelong day — till evening shadows fall — 
 in joy, in sadness — still we wish for you, 
 
 To cheer us in the one, to share with us in all, 
 With that love so firm, so tender, and so true. 
 
 Chorus — Home ! Sweet Home ! Do they think of the 
 soldier there ? 
 
 0, we think, of you at home', and our deepest, war- 
 mest prayer, 
 The prayer which is both old, and ever new, 
 Is that which goes to God for th'ft sonls we love so 
 dear ; f 
 
 We canaot — cannot cease te think of you. 
 
 Chorus — Homo! Sweet-Home! Dc thoy think of the 
 soldier there ? 
 
 B. M. Jr. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5