ers have put the contest on grounds which would make success on their part indelible disgrace to us. In my sphere of duty my intention is to carry on the war, without either violence to the Constitution or to the principles of justice and humanity, and to contend to the last to avert a triumph over all that is stable in government or honorable in political companionship. My whole course through life has proved my devotion to democracy and conservative principles. No assurance should be needed that this faith is unchanged. But at a moment like this, unless all parties will rally round the Government in putting down the rebellion, leaving questions among ourselves to be settled when the national honor is vindicated and our existence as a nation secured, there can be nothing for us in the future but disaster and disgrace."

No one who lived in those days can forget the misery which we experienced amid the vicissitudes of the war, and the wavering of the balance between victories and defeats. The 1st of September was a specimen of the black days, when New York was wildly excited by rumors. It was said McDowell's entire corps had been cut to pieces by a charge of five thousand rebel cavalry; that the rebels were 250,000 in number, and were rapidly advancing; but then, on the other hand, that we had gained a great battle, and had taken seventeen thousand prisoners, etc., etc. In that month Pennsylvania was actually threatened with invasion by the way of Cumberland, and the inhabitants of Harrisburg were trembling for their safety. Later in the autumn, General Longstreet appeared in force on the west bank of the James, threatening our lines at Suffolk. The outlook for the Federal cause was not brilliant; the hearts of many were failing them for fear, as the war dragged slowly and cruelly forward.

In the midst of anxiety, trouble, and unremitting toil my father occasionally found relaxation and diversion of thought in reading his favorite Latin authors. The "DIES IRE," the sequence in the Mass for the Dead, holds an unrivalled place in the lyrical treasures of Christianity. No one has yet suc

ceeded in perfectly reproducing in any other language its sublime and awful measures; perhaps no man should hope to do so. The Latin tongue is unique in certain respects, as scholars know; such a language was needed to paint as it ought to be painted the picture of the Coming of Christ and the End of the World. Like many others, my father found comfort as a Christian, and consolation in sorrow, in studying that masterpiece of religious poetry. I give his version here, with the introductory note, reserving for a later part of this memoir the comments on its merits by some of the scholars of that period:

"I have recently seen in the periodical press several new translations of this noble canticle-the best produced by the Middle Ages, perhaps by any age.

"Among the English versions, that of the Earl of Roscommon seems to have caught more of the inspiration of the original than any I have seen. It is, nevertheless, a paraphrase rather than a translation. This is a serious fault, notwithstanding its high poetic merit. A production universally acknowledged to have no superior of its class should be as literally rendered as the structure of the language into which it is translated will admit. Moreover, no translation can be complete which does not conform to the original in its rhythmic quantities. The music of the 'Dies Ira' is as old as the hymn, if not older; and, with those who are familiar with both, they are inseparably connected in thought. To satisfy the exactions of such minds the cadences must be the same.

"With full knowledge of what has been done and attempted in our language, and of the difficulty of doing better, I have nevertheless ventured on a translation having in view the two ends which I have pointed out—musical notation, and literal rendering to the extent that it is attainable.

“It is the fruit of leisure moments gained from the hard service of the camp, on rebel soil, but within Union intrenchments. If, in the ages of paganism, the strings of the Lesbian lyre might be, not unworthily, swept by hands inured to arms

"Qui ferox bello, tamen inter arma,

Liberum, et Musas, Veneremque, et illi
Semper hærentem puerum canebat'-

a soldier in a Christian age may not less worthily find relief from the asperities of war in themes more congenial with the higher dispensations which he is, by the providence of God, permitted to share.

Through another year the sanguinary conflict was prolonged. In the spring important movements broke the suspense, and renewed the agitation of the hour. In the month of April my father found the opportunity for a brief visit home. He came to us on the 10th of the month. His stay was short. On the 12th he received a despatch from Colonel Van Buren, informing him that the enemy, about 30,000 strong, were coming up, and that the attack would probably be on Summerton and Edenton road. That same hour he set off for Baltimore, and, having been met by his despatchsteamer, was in a few hours within the threatened lines at Suffolk. He regarded the attack as a feint to conceal the design to interpose between Suffolk and Norfolk, to take the latter place, where there were only some 3000 troops, and thence to threaten Fortress Monroe, of which the garrison was but 1000 men. General Peck was at Suffolk, with 15,000 troops, and strongly intrenched. The enemy remained for some time in close proximity, but did not venture to attack, evidently fearing to bring on a general engagement. The General's account of these days is contained in the following despatch:

"Fortress Monroe, Virginia, April 19, 1863.

"Major-general Halleck, General-in-chief:

"I deem it due to the forces at Suffolk to notice briefly their gallant conduct during the last few days.

"On Tuesday General Peck's right was attacked, and the enemy's advance was gallantly met by Colonel Foster's light troops, driving him back to the line of his pickets. Anderson's division was engaged at the same time on the water-front with our gun-boats and batteries, and suffered materially. On Wednesday a rebel battery of 20-pounder rifled guns was effectually silenced, and an attack on the Smith Briggs, an armed quartermaster's boat, was repulsed. Repeated attempts have been made on our lines, but have all been foiled. The storming of the enemy's battery near the west branch of the Nansemond by General Getty, and the gun-boats, under Lieutenant Lamson, of the Navy, and the capture of six guns and two hundred prisoners, closes the operations of the six days against the enemy's large force very satisfactorily.

"JOHN A. DIX, Major-general."