advance in education. When he questions you about the old country
he astonishes you by the extent of his knowledge. I defy you not
to feel that he is superior to the race from whence he has sprung
in England or in Ireland. To me I confess that the manliness of
such a man is very charming. He is dirty, and, perhaps, squalid.
His children are sick and he is without comforts. His wife is
pale, and you think you see shortness of life written in the faces
of all the family. But over and above it all there is an
independence which sits gracefully on their shoulders, and teaches
you at the first glance that the man has a right to assume himself
to be your equal. It is for this position that the laborer works,
bearing hard words and the indignity of tyranny; suffering also too
often the dishonest ill usage which his superior power enables the
master to inflict.

"I have lived very rough," I heard a poor woman say, whose husband
had ill used and deserted her. "I have known what it is to be
hungry and cold, and to work hard till my bones have ached. I only
wish that I might have the same chance again. If I could have ten
acres cleared two miles away from any living being, I could be
happy with my children. I find a kind of comfort when I am at work
from daybreak to sundown, and know that it is all my own." I
believe that life in the backwoods has an allurement to those who
have been used to it that dwellers in cities can hardly comprehend.

From Milwaukee we went across Wisconsin, and reached the
Mississippi at La Crosse. From hence, according to agreement, we
were to start by steamer at once up the river. But we were delayed
again, as had happened to us before on Lake Michigan at Grand
Haven.



CHAPTER X.

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.


It had been promised to us that we should start from La Crosse by
the river steamer immediately on our arrival there; but, on
reaching La Crosse, we found that the vessel destined to take us up
the river had not yet come down. She was bringing a regiment from
Minnesota, and, under such circumstances, some pardon might be
extended to irregularities. This plea was made by one of the boat
clerks in a very humble tone, and was fully accepted by us. The
wonder was that, at such a period, all means of public conveyance
were not put absolutely out of gear. One might surmise that when
regiments were constantly being moved for the purposes of civil
war--when the whole North had but the one object of collecting
together a sufficient number of men to crush the South--ordinary
traveling for ordinary purposes would be difficult, slow, and
subject to sudden stoppages. Such, however, was not the case
either in the Northern or Western States. The trains ran much as
usual, and those connected with the boats and railways were just as
anxious as ever to secure passengers. The boat clerk at La Crosse
apologized amply for the delay; and we sat ourselves down with
patience to await the arrival of the second Minnesota Regiment on
its way to Washington.

During the four hours that we were kept waiting we were harbored on
board a small steamer; and at about eleven the terribly harsh
whistle that is made by the Mississippi boats informed us that the
regiment was arriving. It came up to the quay in two steamers--750
being brought in that which was to take us back, and 250 in a
smaller one. The moon was very bright, and great flaming torches
were lit on the vessel's side, so that all the operations of the
men were visible. The two steamers had run close up, thrusting us
away from the quay in their passage, but doing it so gently that we
did not even feel the motion. These large boats--and their size
may be understood from the fact that one of them had just brought
down 750 men--are moved so easily and so gently that they come
gliding in among each other without hesitation and without pause.
On English waters we do not willingly run ships against each other;
and when we do so unwillingly, they bump and crush and crash upon
each other, and timbers fly while men are swearing. But here there
was neither crashing nor swearing; and the boats noiselessly
pressed against each other as though they were cased in muslin and
crinoline.

I got out upon the quay and stood close by the plank, watching each
man as he left the vessel and walked across toward the railway.
Those whom I had previously seen in tents were not equipped; but
these men were in uniform, and each bore his musket. Taking them
altogether, they were as fine a set of men as I ever saw collected.
No man could doubt, on seeing them, that they bore on their
countenances the signs of higher breeding and better education than
would be seen in a thousand men enlisted in England. I do not mean
to argue from this that Americans are better than English. I do
not mean to argue here that they are even better educated. My
assertion goes to show that the men generally were taken from a
higher level in the community than that which fills our own ranks.
It was a matter of regret to me, here and on many subsequent
occasions, to see men bound for three years to serve as common
soldiers who were so manifestly fitted for a better and more useful
life. To me it is always a source of sorrow to see a man enlisted.
I feel that the individual recruit is doing badly with himself--
carrying himself, and the strength and intelligence which belong to
him, to a bad market. I know that there must be soldiers; but as
to every separate soldier I regret that he should be one of them.
And the higher is the class from which such soldiers are drawn, the


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