_By_ JULIA WARD HOWE
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on.
I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I have read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps.
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat:
O, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
[Illustration]
"'STONEWALL' JACKSON'S WAY"
_By_ J. W. PALMER
NOTE.--Thomas J. Jackson, the great Confederate general, better known as
"Stonewall" Jackson, was loved and admired by his men not only for his
military ability, but for his personal virtues, and even for his
personal peculiarities as well. He was a deeply religious man, and never
began a battle without prayer or failed to give public thanks to God for
a victory.
While he believed that the people through whose land he was passing, and
indeed all non-combatants, should be guarded as far as possible from the
evil results of war, he showed no compassion for the enemies sent
against him, and pushed the battle against them with all his might. His
death in 1863 was a great loss to the Confederate cause.
Come, stack arms, men! Pile on the rails,
Stir up the camp-fire bright;
No matter if the canteen fails,
We'll make a roaring night.
Here Shenandoah brawls along,
There burly Blue Ridge echoes strong,
To swell the brigade's rousing song
Of "'Stonewall' Jackson's way."
[Illustration: Thomas J ("Stonewall") Jackson 1824-1863]
We see him now--the old slouched hat
Cocked o'er his eye askew,
The shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat,
So calm, so blunt, so true.
The "Blue-Light Elder" knows 'em well;
Says he, "That's Banks[1]--he's fond of shell,
Lord save his soul! We'll give him"--well,
That's "'Stonewall' Jackson's way."
[Footnote 1: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was a Federal general who was
pitted against Jackson in several engagements.]
Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off!
"Old Blue-Light's" going to pray.
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff!
Attention! it's his way.
Appealing from his native sod,
"_In forma pauperis_"[2] to God--
"Lay bare thine arm, stretch forth thy rod!
Amen!" That's "'Stonewall's way."
[Footnote 2: _In forma pauperis_ is a Latin legal expression, meaning
_as a poor man_.]
He's in the saddle now--Fall in!
Steady! the whole brigade!
Hill's[3] at the ford, cut off--we'll win
His way out, ball and blade!
What matter if our shoes are worn?
What matter if our feet are torn?
"Quick-step! we're with him before dawn!"
That's "'Stonewall' Jackson's way."
The sun's bright lances rout the mists
Of morning, and, by George!
Here's Longstreet[4] struggling in the lists,
Hemmed in an ugly gorge.
Pope[5] and his Yankees, whipped before,--
"Bay'nets and grape!" hear "Stonewall" roar;
"Charge, Stuart![6] Pay off Ashby's[7] score!"
In "'Stonewall' Jackson's way."
[Footnote 3: Ambrose P. Hill was a prominent Confederate general.]
[Footnote 4: James Longstreet was one of the most distinguished of the
Confederate generals.]
[Footnote 5: John Pope, the Federal general, was badly defeated by
Jackson and Robert E. Lee in the second battle of Bull Run, August 29
and 30, 1862.]
[Footnote 6: James E. B. Stuart, a cavalry leader in the Confederate
army, took a prominent part in the second battle of Bull Run, and was
with Jackson in other engagements.]
[Footnote 7: Turner Ashby, a Confederate general, had greatly aided
Jackson by covering the latter's retreat before General Banks. He was
killed in a skirmish in June, 1862.]
Ah! maiden, wait and watch and yearn
For news of "Stonewall's" band!
Ah! widow, read with eyes that burn
That ring upon thy hand.
Ah! wife, sew on, pray on, hope on!
Thy life shall not be all forlorn;
The foe had better ne'er been born
That gets in "'Stonewall's' way."