the dear old flag, true and gallant knights? There is a boy out
there in the woods, on picket, slowly pacing his lonely beat, with the
tender-eyed stars for company. And as the silent hours pass by, slowly
he turns the leaves of memory's record, lingering over its cherished
pictures, the home-scenes, the fond father and mother, the dear sister,
and the dearer some-one-else's sister. The snapping of a twig startles
him, and hastily brushing away a tear--fond memory's tribute--he
instantly closes the book, and stands, with every sense on the alert,
unflinching, though he knows that each moment may be his last, only
remembering that it is his duty to be faithful, watch well, and fire
low. And though this boy, fair-haired and beardless, may not have passed
the stern ordeal of the battle's fierce shock, though his heart softens
at the thought of his far-off home in the North, yet his young soul is
that of a hero, brave and chivalrous, and in due time his spurs will be
nobly won. Yes, this war is bringing out the grand, heroic traits of our
American character, traits that years of rapid, busy, money-getting life
have thrown into the background, till it really did seem that we were
altogether sordid and selfish.

In the year that I have been in the service, I have seen and heard of
more individual chivalrous deeds than my romantic and dyspeptic young
friend will find in all the books, from _Amadis de Gaul_ down. Every day
witnesses them. Private letters speak of them as ordinary incidents; a
few get before the public, enjoy a brief newspaper notoriety, and are
forgotten--no, not forgotten entirely; for every brave action lives
somewhere, though it may not be in an official report. A mother's or a
sister's memory cherishes it, and it is handed down to other
generations, an example and an incentive to other brave deeds.

Then let us have no more sentimental lamentation over the decadence of
chivalry. There is a broad field open to us, for deeds of chivalrous
daring, now, upon the battle-field, amid the fierce clashing of arms.

'And many a darkness into the light shall leap,
And shine with the sudden making of splendid names.'

Afterward, when holy peace shall smile again, there are the pulpit and
the rostrum, the workshop and the forest; and whether we wield the pen,
or the hammer, or the ax, according as we strive to make ourselves and
the world better, so shall we bear the palm of chivalry.

* *