LIFE IN CAMP. "The plumed troop, and the big wars, That make ambition virtue; The neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner; and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!" Othello. How delightful, after a long absence in a foreign country, is the return to our native land! How beautiful is the first far-off gleam of its distant hills, as they break out from the back-ground of the sky, and stretch away, as now, in silent and sunset glory! When I last beheld them, and lingered upon this height that overlooks my home, the land scape lay embalmed in the dewy light of the morning, and Earth looked up to heaven through her smiles and tears. Autumn has now hung her russet mantle over the woods, which Spring then clad in her green array, and gladdened with her choral hymn. Since then I have met her on distant shores,have seen her come and go,-have bade her welcome and farewell, as she passed like a fairy vision from the earth. Yet I will not regret the days that are gone; since Time, that steals away its enjoyments from the present and its hopes from the future, sheds unclouded beauty over the past, which every thing around me calls up from oblivion. The very walls of my dwelling seem to return my smiles, and to welcome me back. Its smoke is curling in the calm sky, and the sound of ap proaching footsteps is in mine ear. But no; it was only the beating of my heart. A mist comes over my sight,-the hills, vales, and woods mingle together in strange confusion, and suddenly melt away into undistinguished shadow. I start as from a reverie, and gaze around. Above me are the silent stars of night, and the pale tents glimmering through the gloom. And it was all a dream!-Such are the pleasures of sleeping and waking in camp. The troops stand to their arms an hour or two before daybreak. I see them beginning to muster, by the dusky gleams of the watchfires, around which the officers are collecting in groups, and passing away the hours of darkness as well as they can, in discussions on passing events, or in planning amusements for the day. Dawn breaks at last in the eastern sky, and as every thing seems quiet, the parade is dismissed, and the troops pile their arms along their tents as before. By and by commence the various operations of the day; the cooking and eating of breakfasts, the parading of parties for duty, relieving of guards, &c. Sutlers and followers of the army, male and female, produce their various commodities. Bread and fruit, wine and spirits, horses, mules, and donkies, are everywhere exhibited for sale. And if a battle has lately taken place, in addition to these may be had officers' wardrobes, epaulets, watches, swords, &c. at very reduced prices. Excursions to the front and rear form agreeable pastime during the day. At the former, if no lynx-eyed old general cross our path, we may discuss politics and a glass of cognac with the officers of the enemy's picquet on the neutral ground; and at the latter may follow the amusements of shooting and fishing, or, in the mood of contemplation, enjoy the glories of nature; and he who has passed through a campaign in the Peninsula will not easily forget such excursions, if, like me, he has climbed its vast sierras, and, taking his siesta midway up the mountains, under the shadow of some old tree, hath gazed upon the primeval peaks towering above him in middleair, till his spirit has been wafted away into the ages of solitude and silence which have rolled over them, but left them unimpaired as things of yesterday; while "battles and banners have passed below," and have been all swept away, with the various races of men by whom the country |