CHAPTER XXXIII.

TO THE FRONT.

N SATURDAY, March 19th, 1864, the regiment fell into line and took the cars for Chicago. A large crowd of the citizens of Aurora greeted them with their cheers and adieus as the train moved out, and as soon as it was well under way, a copy of the following address was placed in the hands of every officer and man, and at once carefully read: To the Officers and Soldiers of the "Thirty-Sixth Illinois." Veteran Volunteers:

It is the custom of many wise and good men to select, at intervals, some brief sentence of Scripture, which being often called to mind, may serve to warn, to strengthen and direct them.

Allow me, at the commencement of your new term of service, to present to you, as a motto, the words of David to his son Solomon :

66 SHOW THYSELF A MAN!"

David's eventful life was drawing to a close. But ere he left his throne on earth for a seat in heaven, he longed to give such counsels to his son as should both insure his personal happiness, and the continued prosperity of his people. Calling Solomon into his presence, he said (1 Kings ii, 2): "I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man."

66

SHOW THYSELF A MAN."

563 All he could wish his son to be; all that in the following verses is expressed in detail, was comprehended in these four brief words. And if ere we move again to the front, we could stand before the venerable patriarch-at once the greatest captain, statesman and monarch of the age-to receive from his lips some weighty and pertinent advice, he might with equal propriety say to each and all," Show thyself a man."

This we should do in relation to ourselves, our country, and our God.

I.

Ourselves.-Man's first and chief responsibility is for himself; and no amount of anxiety for others, or zeal for our country, will atone for the neglect of ourselves. Our immortal souls, for which Christ died, must be watched over; the evil corrected, the good cherished. Many a young man has been lured into vice by the insinuating thought, that it is manly to indulge in profanity, intoxication or licentiousness; but in this he is duped by the same deceiver who taught our first parents that though they disobeyed God, "they should not surely die." To resist vice, not yield to its seductions, is the mark of true manliness. "Greater is he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh a city." Officers and generals we can not all be, nor can we write our names conspicuously on the roll of those who capture cities and lead us on to victory; but we may all win that greater glory which attaches to resisting sin and conquering self. In this, then, "Show thyself a man."

II. Our Country. Our imperilled country called for help. You sprang promptly to her relief. You are now engaged in a special service; one which for the right performance of its duties, requires some of the noblest powers of manhood, whatever position be assigned you. The private, as truly, if not as conspicuously, as the highest officer, may show himself a man; for fidelity, courage and patient endurance are required of all. In this special service to which, for a while, you are devoted, "quit yourselves like men." Let that unquestioning obedience to command, so essential to military success, be always given-not grudgingly, nor simply for your oath's sake, but cheerfully, like men who

have voluntarily sacrificed for a while their personal freedom to the salvation of their country. Let the privations and hardships, inseparable from every campaign, be met with a manly fortitude, knowing that he who calmly endures such trials is as truly a hero as he who boldly stands in the face of the enemy. Nay, the spirit of both is so near akin, that the soldier who proves himself the true man on the march is never found wanting on the battle-field. Carefully, too, abstain from those lawless practices to which a military life presents so many temptations, and by which some soldiers and regiments have brought a stain upon their otherwise fair name, which even gallantry in the field has scarce sufficed to remove. Remember you are citizen-soldiers, whose highest hopes will not be realized simply in the subjuga tion of armed forces in rebellion, but who seek to implant in Southern soil those sacred principles of freedom, regulated by law, which, whilst desolation reigns in the theatre of war, still keep our far-away homes the abodes of peace and prosperity, and which, "when this cruel war is over," shall grow until they lift their branches over the whole land, and a continent shall safely recline beneath their shade. Let there be nothing, then, in your conduct which shall belie this sacred mission, or make those you meet misunderstand your aims.

But this manliness should be chiefly shown

III.

Towards God.-With some it is considered manly to scoff at religion, and boast in unbelief, unmindful of the fact, that the glory and service of God was the chief end of man's creation, and never till he gives himself to that service, making that glory his supreme desire, does he attain full manliness. "The Christian is the highest style of man." The love of God restrains and purifies the love of self; it sanctions and strengthens the love of country, and gives to the character a stability and glory all its own. To be true men, let the counsels of the Savior be heeded; let His precepts be your guide, His blood and righteousness your only refuge. Rest not without an interest in His salvation.