of shipments of all kinds of merchandise to the rebel States, money in hand not tempting our citizens to either feeding or clothing them. I hear a rumor of a force of five thousand blacks being organized. They offer to raise that number of men provided a pledge is given them that they will be marched directly down among the rebels. Such a body could be raised here, and in this neighborhood."

It may be said, in reference to this last sentence regarding the blacks, that great numbers of those residing in the Northern States-large numbers of whom were well-to-do peoplewere anxious to serve their country; but, in no instance during the war were they called into field service. Numbers of "contrabands" were employed in camp, hospital and laborer service; but, throughout all the war the loyal blacks were not permitted to take up arms. The reason, doubtless, was, that a great hue and cry would have been raised by the enemies of this Government, here and in Europe, that the negroes were being let loose to "commit atrocities" upon the South. As if negroes could rival in atrocity the savages who made drinking cups of the skulls of the "Fire Zouaves," and who brutally scourged, starved, robbed and hung the defenseless Unionists of Tennessee! When Parson Brownlow, at an early day of the rebellion, said: "If it shall so happen, in the progress of affairs, that the authorities of the land shall give us our choice, and submit the same to us as an ultimatum, either to go to h― or take refuge in the Southern Confederacy, we will claim a week to consider of the matter, and to make up our `mind, as between the two evils"-he simply showed that he appreciated the spirit of malice and evil upon which the whole movement was founded.

The following is a specimen of the news dealt out to the Southern people. It is from a New Orleans journal: "All the Massachusetts troops now in Washington are negroes, with the exception of two or three drummer-boys. General Butler, in command, is a native of Liberia. Our readers may recollect old Ben, the barber, who kept a shop in

Poydras street, and emigrated to Liberia with a small competence. General Butler is his son." As General Butler and some Massachusetts troops had the pleasure of taking possession of New Orleans, the people of that city had an opportunity of testing his "quality."

When General Butler, in command of the Massachusetts regiments, landed at Annapolis, Md., some of the authorities protested against the passage of Massachusetts troops over Maryland soil; to which he replied: "Sir, we came here not as citizens of Massachusetts, but as citizens of and soldiers of the United States, with no intention to invade any State, but to protect the Capital of our common country from invasion. We shall give no cause of offense; but there must be no fugitive shots or stray bricks on the way."

Butler's troops soon became noted for their general efficiency. Probably no regiment was called to the field, embodying more ingenious men than the Massachusetts Eighth. When sailors. were wanted to take the Constitution ("Old Ironsides") out of danger in Annapolis harbor, fifty-four men stepped from the ranks. When the railway to the Annapolis junction with the Washington railway was seized for the transport service of the Government, the only engine was found crippled and useless. Butler's call for machinists was answered by eight excellent workmen-one of whom had helped to construct that identical engine. The machine was in running order in two hours' time. The railway track had been torn up, culverts destroyed, bridges burned: the men were there to place all in order.

The Sixth Massachusetts regiment-the regiment assailed by the mob in Baltimore-was chiefly drawn from the county of Middlesex, which embraces the battle-fields of Bunker's Hill, Concord and Lexington, and many of the men were lineal descendants of those who fought on those fields.

In the Fifth Massachusetts was the Concord company, four

members of which were named Buttrick, sons of one man, a direct descendant from the Colonel Buttrick who gave the command at Concord bridge: "Fire, fellow soldiers! for God's sake, fire!"

How it sounded, to Northern cars at least, to hear its volun teers characterised as the lowest scum of society. The Raleigh Banner said, in urging the attack on Washington City: "The army of the South will be composed of the best material that ever yet made up an army; whilst that of Lincoln will be gathered from the sewers of the cities-the degraded, beastly offscourings of all quarters of the world, who will serve for pay, and run away as soon as they can when danger threatens them." The Charleston Mercury characterised our troops as "invading swine." And so of almost innumerable papers. The opinion was so sedulously disseminated that the Northern volunteers were a beggarly set of cowards, (see page 40,) that the only wonder is, Southern "gentlemen" could consent to take the field against them. The Mobile Advertiser enlight ened us in this fashion: "Our volunteer soldiery is not the soldiery of necessity-men worth their hundreds of thousands carry the musket in the ranks. Plenty reigns in our dwellings, and is gladly abandoned for the privations of the camp. Such is the materiel with which we meet a mercenary pauper soldiery. Who would doubt the issue when it is man to man? The creatures of one side, sordid and indifferent, fight for so much per diem as the alternative of starvation. The men on the other side fight for rights and liberties, filled with ardor by the noblest impulses. Let these foes meet in pitched battle, and the sons of the South will triumph, were the enemy five to one." Alas! how their dream dissolved in mist-how their tune changed before a twelvemonth!

Let us append, as a comment on the above, the following pleasing incident from the New York Sun :-"A tall, splendidlooking man, dressed in the uniform of the Allen Greys, Vermont, stood conversing with a friend on Broadway. He was

entirely unconscious that his superior height was attracting universal attention, until a splendid barouche drove up to the sidewalk, and a young man sprang from it and grasped his hand, saying, 'You are the most splendid specimen of hu manity I ever saw. I am a Southerner, but my heart is with the Union; if it were not, such noble-looking fellows as yourself would enlist me in the cause.' The subject of the remark, although surprised, was perfectly self-possessed, and answered the cordial greeting of the young Southerner with warm enthu siasm. He was several inches above six feet, and his noble, open countenance, beamed with the ancient patriotism of the Green Mountain Boys, of which he was so fine a specimen. He had walked fifteen miles from the village of Chittenden to enlist, and was the only representative of that village; but he was a host in himself. Long may he live to honor our Stars and Stripes."

In the same company of one of the Ohio regiments, were sixteen brothers by the name of Finch, all from Dayton, in that State, though born in Germany. This remarkable circumstance-sixteen members of one family in one military company has not its parallel, we believe, in the annals of war.

The Newport Artillery (company F of the First Rhode Is land regiment) has a most notable history, which was thus narrated by a good authority: "It is one of the oldest military organizations in the country. It is an independent company, and was chartered by the British Crown in 1741. With but three exceptions since that time (during the Revolutionary war, when Newport was in possession of English and Hessian troops) the company has held annual meetings under the charter and elected officers, who consist of a Colonel and others connected with a regiment. The names of Generals Greene and Vaughan, of Revolutionary fame, Commodore Perry, and other distinguished personages, are among the enrolled mem bers of the company, which number between two and three thousand since its organization. In their armory, at Newport, they have an autograph letter from General George Washing

ton, written in 1792, thanking them for an invitation to be with them at their annual celebration on the 22d of February of that year, which is handsomely framed. Of the fifty-two active members, forty-seven volunteered their services for the defense of the National Capital, when Governor Sprague telegraphed to inquire the number of men they could furnish, and in a few hours the number was increased to one hundred and thirty-five by recruits.

VI.

THE HUMOR OF THE HOUR.

One of the Ohio regiments chose for its chaplain Rev. Granville Moody, a well-known Methodist minister. He refused to serve except the regiment properly equipped him with a full fighting costume, "for," said he, "in our persuasion we do not believe in faith without works." A good thing is also told of another "member of the cloth," in Ohio-Rev. Mr. Beattie, of Cleveland. Presenting a revolver to a member of the Seventh (Ohio) regiment, he said: "If you get in a tight spot, and have to use it, ask God's blessing if you have time, but be sure and not let your enemy get the start of you. You can say 'Amen!' after you shoot !"

Corporal Tyler, of the Massachusetts Sixth regiment, when describing his experience in Baltimore, says he saw a man with three stones under his arm and one in his hand, pelting away at the troops, when he fired at him, and-to use Mr. Tyler's own language" The man dropped the bricks, and laid down."

Southern Illinois was named "Egypt," because of the mul titude of Southern men who had brought, as residents, igno