S. T. Martyn

“ Months have passed, and still the cloud of war overshadows the land, and still our beloved ones are absent from us, some with the heroic Sherman in Northern Georgia, scaling the heights of Kennesaw and Lookout mountains, and driving the eagle from his eyrie, as they plant the stars and stripes among the clouds; some are in the sultry swamps and bayous of Louisiana, exposed to a foe more insidious and deadly than the rebel armies; and others, among whom are our best and bravest, are swelling the ranks which threaten the Confederate capital. ”

“ Miss Letty Brown was the dressmaker par excellence of the town of Woodbury; and though we of the Hill had tried hard to appropriate her, it was found an impossibility, so we were fain to share her services with the inhabitants of the village. She was a cheerful, active little [9] woman, of an uncertain age, with a fresh, breezy atmosphere always about her, which stirred one very pleasantly—a little given to gossip, yet no scandal-monger, but a sincere, earnest Christian, loving God and her fellow-men, and looking persistently on the bright side of every thing. ”

“ It was the same old story repeated once again, a tale as old as the history of the race, yet new in the experience of every human heart—the story of faithful love meeting its reward at last in the affection of the beloved object. As Elinor heard from her cousin the recital of the gallant exploits of Major May, of his courage and devoted loyalty, she loved him not only “for the perils he had passed,” but for the high principle which had thus far shielded him from the peculiar temptations of a soldier’s life ”

“ Now I want to ask as a great favor, that you will take Elinor and myself under your wing to-morrow, for we cannot help dreading the battery of eyes and tongues that we must encounter. I dare say you are no worse here than other people, and perhaps a great deal better, but as Venus says, ‘There’s no accounting for human nature,’ and strangers usually have to run the gauntlet in order to gain the freedom of any country town. ”

“ I saw the little company off a few hours later, and a sorrowful parting it was, though Miss Letty and Lilian tried hard to assume a courage they did not feel, to comfort Fanny Lester, whose grief was terrible to witness; and how I loved and admired Lilian, when I saw her so forgetful of self, soothing and sustaining the weeping sister, while her own heart was bleeding silently. This young girl was not one to proclaim her sorrow on the house-tops, or to make noisy demands [57] for sympathy. ”

“ No one could be any thing to me who wished to break up and destroy the best government ever formed by man. I never see a soldier who has fought for his country without feeling as if I wished to speak to him as a friend ”

“ As a nation we have deeply sinned. As a nation we are suffering a fearful punishment.
But let not the enemies of liberty in the old world or the new, exult in the belief that the republic is about to be rent in fragments, and the last hope of the oppressed millions of Europe to be for ever entombed. We are bearing the indignation of the Lord because we have sinned against him ”

“ After a few loving words to her husband, Elinor, and Lilian, with a kind message to Col. Lester, she said, in a voice clear and distinct as in health,
“I wish to give it as my dying testimony to all here present, that not one good thing has ever failed in my experience, of all that the Lord has spoken. The religion of the Bible has been to me an infinite blessing. I have lived on it for years, and it has supported me in suffering and sorrow, and now I am dying in perfect peace; for Jesus is with [115] me, and his rod and staff, they comfort me.” ”

“ The heavens are dark above us, and the earth rocks wildly under our feet, but God has a divine purpose underlying all these convulsions, and it is fixed and immutable as his throne. Faith sees in the overturnings around us the majestic march of his providence, preparing a way in the tempest, and making the wrath of man to praise him, while he restrains the remainder thereof. ”

“ There was one of a young girl, the prettiest thing I ever set [16] eyes on; it was so beautiful it spoilt all the rest. Her eyes were just like stars, and such lovely curls of brown hair falling over her white neck and shoulders; but the sweet look on her face was better than all. I’m sure I should love that girl, and I guess Mr. Lester thought so too, from the way he kept going back to it again and again, as if he couldn’t get away, looking all the while so melancholy. One thing I’m sure of,” added Miss Letty as she rose to go; “that young man hasn’t got any thing to be ashamed of ”

“ Why, there never was any boy who had so many blessings as I have. In the first place, it was such goodness in God to let me go out with the regiment, such a poor little fellow as I am. Then when I was hurt, he sent dear Aunt Letty to take care of me, and bring me home here to such a nice place, and such kind friends. It isn’t any matter about my arm, for when I die I’ll have wings, you know, and so it will never be missed. ”

“ For some weeks it was feared by the surgeons that amputation of the foot must take place; and nothing but the prayers and tears of Lilian induced them to delay it, until, by the blessing of God on her exertions, it was no longer deemed necessary. The ball still remained in his shoulder, and had hitherto eluded search; but it was at length found and extracted; and from that hour his progress, though slow, was sure.
“How is it, Robert,” said Lilian one day, when he was suffering more than usual from his wounds, “that you are always so cheerful and patient, though you suffer so much? ”

“ But Miss Letty could keep silence no longer, and interrupted him, saying,
“Mrs. Flint, my little Willie can’t talk much now, but I think he lives religion better than a great many of us. He means, and I say, that though we don’t deserve any thing but punishment for our sins, it isn’t always a sign that God is angry with us when he lets us suffer in this world. He wasn’t angry with Job, when he allowed Satan to try him so; nor with Daniel, when he was put into the lions’ den; but he did it to show what [74] religion could do for people when they are in the worst of troubles. ”

“ If humbly trusting in Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking care of widows and orphans, isn’t religion, what is? Mr. Lester is always on hand when any thing good is going forward in the church, though he doesn’t pray at the corners of the streets, like the Pharisees, nor say to everybody, by his looks and actions, ‘See how good I am.’ I think though, that he follows his Master a great deal nearer than some [32] who try to make out that their little tallow dip is a splendid Drummond light. But bless me, Mrs. Flint, you’re sewing that sleeve in wrong-side out. ”

“ I said every thing in my power to encourage Miss Letty, for I felt that Mr. Thurston had made a wise choice for himself and his children, and that our little seamstress, with her fund of good sense, energy, and activity, and above all, with her unwavering trust in God, would make a far better wife for a clergyman than [108] many an educated and refined woman who was deficient in these qualities, as too many are. ”

“ Lilian smiled through her tears as she playfully pictured his helplessness, when he should find himself thrown once more on his own resources.
“I know you have almost spoiled me,” he replied in the same tone, “but the camp is a good school in which to learn to endure hardships and self-denial, and I am not likely to want for lessons in our present service.” ”

“ Every step of the way in which, as a people, we have been led, from the landing on Plymouth rock to the proud position which we have hitherto occupied among the nations, has been marked by special interpositions of Providence, no less real, though less miraculous, than the pillar of cloud and flame which guided the ancient Israelites to the land of promise. ”

“ If there were in the town of Woodbury a model neighborhood, we believed it to be located on Beach Hill. Ours was a very select society, reckoning among its members the clergyman, lawyer, doctor, and editor of the town, and a number of gentlemen of wealth and leisure, as well as some who led the dubious sort of existence called “living by one’s wits.” ”

“ Lilian shunned him more resolutely than ever, and once said in his hearing, “If I were a man, and refused to go when my country called for my services, I should expect to be driven from society, as unworthy the love of woman or the esteem of my fellow-men.”
“You are too severe, Lilian,” said the [38] gentle Elinor; “there are many other ways of serving one’s country besides fighting for it, and every one can judge best for himself what his duty may be.” ”

“ If we read aright the divine purpose in reference to this nation, and the historical causes here concentrating, we must believe that the vital forces inherent in our government and institutions will, with the blessing of God, master all the antagonisms now threatening their overthrow ”

“ Glenn, I don’t think there’s another man in the world like Captain Lester.”
“In what respect, Willie?”
“In every thing. The men all love him so, they’d give their lives for him; and yet he’s very strict, and wont have any drinking or gambling or swearing in the camp. They have to do just right, and then he’s the kindest man I ever saw. If anybody is sick or in trouble, they know where to go for help; and when the chaplain is away, he prays and reads a sermon to the men in the big tent every Sunday. ”

“ There was quite a company of Beach Hill people there, and among the rest Robert Lester, the fine-looking young lawyer. I don’t often take a fancy to young men—you needn’t smile, [12] Nellie—but I do like that young man wonderfully. There’s something so noble about him; and yet he’s as gentle as a woman.”
I assented cordially to Miss Letty’s praise of the young lawyer, for he had been a favorite of mine from his first appearance in our town. He was alone in the world, having no relatives but one sister, who was at a boarding-school at some distance from Woodbury. ”

“ No careful observer of God’s providence can doubt that he has reserved America for a grand destiny—that our country has a mission to perform of the [125] sublimest import, and a grand agency to exert in the regeneration of the world. ”

“ There are times in the history of all nations, when liberty can only be preserved by fighting for it, and I believe God hates a guilty peace, even more than the desolations of war. Storms are very useful and salutary things,” she added with a smile, “though they often make sad havoc of property and life. ”

“ Mabel Ryder had drawn Elinor away into a circle of young ladies; but Lilian, who had been consulting Miss Letty about her work, was sitting alone, and to her Mrs. Flint cautiously made her way. After a few commonplace remarks, she said in her softest tone, “I am very happy to see you here, of course, but I hardly expected that you Southerners would be willing to help us fight against your own brethren.”
“I don’t know,” was the spirited reply, “whom you mean by my brethren. I am an American, and love my whole [27] country and the dear old flag better than my life. ”

“ In early life she had been a proud, ambitious woman, valuing wealth and social distinction above all things else, and anxious only that her children should shine in the circles of fashion to which she belonged. ”

“ Flint, “but don’t you think there’s danger of making the way of religion too easy, so that people will think they are Christians when they are not?”
“I don’t think we have any thing to do with making the way hard or easy. We must take it just as Jesus Christ left it; and he says, ‘I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.’ I don’t read that any thing but repentance and faith in the Saviour, and renewing by the Holy Spirit, is necessary to be a humble Christian ”

“ It would never do for the colonel to be enjoying the society of his wife, unless he grants the same privilege to the other officers, and in that case, I fear we should be in danger of losing the name of the ‘fighting regiment,’ which the veterans have so nobly earned. ”

“ Several members of the Twenty-sixth, when they found that Capt. Lester was to have the command of a regiment, were transferred, and most of his field and line officers were old friends and comrades, so we bade him farewell cheerfully, though his health was not fully reëstablished.
True to her former professions, Lilian sent him forth with smiles and blessings; and after his departure, she had always a word of comfort and cheer for those [100] who had given their household treasures to the cause of freedom. ”

“ If there are things [31] about them I don’t understand, I take it for granted they’re of a piece with those that I do understand, and so it never troubles me a bit.”
“I know he is a great favorite of yours, and you can’t see any faults in him; but for my part, I never had clear evidence of his being a Christian.”
“And pray, what kind of evidence do you want?” inquired Miss Letty, with more asperity of tone than I had ever heard from her before. ”

“ It seems too bad to have that place shut up from the public, for we all enjoyed it so much; but I suppose the owner had the best right to it, after all. I haven’t found out who the family are, but I shall hear all about it to-morrow, and then I will let you know; for Aunt Prudence is going there to clean [6] the rooms, and get them ready for the furniture.”
As Miss Letty paused to take breath, I expressed my interest in the news, which, to confess the truth, had affected me rather unpleasantly. ”