raft for three hundred thousand, when
we come to portion it off among those remaining in our counties, becomes
quite trifling.

'More than shooting goes to making war.' All who are in the North can
fight to good purpose, if they will, every man and woman of them, _do
their best_ to raise soldiers, equip them and take care of their
families.

Men! rise up and go forth. You will acquire a patent of nobility by
serving in this war, which will be worth more to you and yours in coming
days than any title on earth. You go to great risks--but not to any
thing which can outweigh the good you can do for this truly holy cause.
Have you lived lives 'of no great account'--_now_ is the time to rise to
a position--to be some body, and make your mark. Have you been a mere
cipher in the great sum of life--a neglected trifle--now is the time to
raise yourself to a real value. It can never be said of a man who served
in this war that he was of no great account.

Has your life been stained--by misfortune or your own faults? Now is the
time to wipe out the old score and begin afresh. What cautious, timid
Peace rejects as bad, bold, hearty War grasps at with eagerness and
makes good and great.

Are you poor, and dragging out a dull, base life, more sluggishly than
your abilities deserve? Go to the war--in God's name, go to the war! Who
knows what changes in life you may live through--what new opportunities
may open before you! In that wide Southland lie a million homes, and
there will be those left behind who--if you fight bravely--will give the
matter no rest till you are richly rewarded. There is not a soldier in
this war at this instant who is not acquiring what may be a fortune.
_Somebody_ must occupy the lands left vacant in the South!

Are you a lover? Make her proud of you.

Do not fear the risks. That is a poor, wretched life which has never run
the chances of death.

'Fast in battle the bullets fly,
But many a soldier the bullets pass by.'

Arise all! Up, Guards, and at 'em! Let there be a general up-stirring
and a hearty good-will in this matter. The enemy have brought every
white man among them into the field--they are kept alive solely by the
blacks. One tremendous effort, such as we are capable of making, would
sweep them from the face of the earth. Another struggle and we reach the
shore.

* * * * *

Many years ago, the South began to alienate itself from the Union, by
blindly a