n Saul."

It seemed as if a special inspiration of silent endurance and courageous
patience were given to the men who lingered in the most acute
sufferings. Gangrene spread through the wards, and the remedy was like
the application of fire to open wounds. Three times a day was this agony
endured with a martyr's spirit. One man by the name of Hollenbeck would
sing in joyous tones,--

"I'm glad I'm in this army,
I'm glad I'm in this army,
And I'll battle till the end.

"He will give me grace to conquer,
He will give me grace to conquer,
And keep me to the end."

While consciousness lasted, he firmly retained his self-control; but at
last reason gave way, and the groans and distressing cries which for a
few days preceded his death told over what a depth of agony his soul had
triumphed, before his brain lost its power.

Not alone by the men themselves was this sublime fortitude shown.
Mothers, who came to visit their sons, though crushed with grief at
their hopeless state, would yet calmly and even cheerfully minister to
their comfort.

There was one mother, especially, whom I remember,--a slight, fragile
little woman, dressed in widow's mourning, for her husband had been
killed in the war, and it was her third and last son who was now dying
for the country. Her strength of mind and body was almost superhuman.
She had an angelic expression of countenance, such as comes from
learning the full and perfect love of God in the sharp lessons of
suffering. She was only too thankful at being permitted to spend these
last days and nights by the side of her son,--begging him to put his
trust in the Saviour, and telling of the celestial glory prepared for
him beyond the grave. She could hardly be persuaded to take even a few
hours' sleep; she felt that she could not leave him with the nurse, but
consented, if one of the ladies would stay with him, to take a little
rest. It was my privilege to watch by him through that last night of
restless pain, and then I found that he was in every way worthy of so
noble a mother. He expressed his willingness to die, saying that it had
been his duty to fight, and that now he gloried in dying for the nation.
The tent sides' fluttering in the light breeze from the bay was the only
sound that disturbed the quiet of that starry night, as in the solemn
solitude the departing soul gathered fresh energy as the body grew
weaker and weaker. Chapters of the Bible and Psalm