What made the Year 1865 HE year 1865 was made memorable in the annals of history, as being the one in which the so-called confederate leaders laid down the arms they had taken from this nation to wage war against it. From the hour that gray headed seer fired the first gun in Fort Sumpter in April, '61, our country was one continual scene of strife and bloody battles. At the north fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters wept burning tears when they were called to part with loved ones, to go they knew not where. Perhaps to the wilds of Kentucky, Tenn e, or the burning sands of the south, to upon the battle-field, languish in some on, or fall a prey to disease! The ght of all this caused mothers to weep o one else can weep. Upon the battlewas suffering so intense, no mortal ue can ever depict the agonies. Men sought out many inventions, but that omething mortal man can never do. y can not picture out a battle-field in any so those who did not participate can e even a faint idea of its horrifying looks. will stop for one moment, and consider ld where men are lying dead in heaps sheaves upon a harvest field. Upon one ten thousand dead, twenty thousand nded, many of them in contortions, ning and struggling in the agonies of h; every foot of ground covered with e missile of death and crimsoned with blood of the wounded. They were sufg untold agonies, dying, that our nation nt not become a by-word among the nations of the earth, as a star that had shone with exceeding brightness and then disappeared, leaving a spot blacker than Egyptian darkness, such were the scenes upon the battle-field; while in homes far away the anxious mother was hourly watching the latest casualities to learn the whereabouts of her loved ones, and with throbbing heart and tearful eyes, and sorrow such as none can tell, she read the long lists of dead, wounded, prisoners and missing, to catch a familiar name, only to add to her already appalling grief. The year 1865 saw great changes. The last battles were fought and a long and bloody rebellion crushed. The armies of the West joined the armies of the East, and in the shadow of the nation's Capitol marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and saluted the Chief Magistrate of the Republic as the representative of the civil power of the nation. It was said by some at home that the army could never be disbanded without general destruction everywhere. the soldiers had become so accustomed laging, they would plunder and murder dless of law. But we all know this ed false, the men who had by their ge, suffering and sacrifices, saved the cry, at the first moment their services not needed, saluted the old flag, which had followed so long, and to which had given new glory. Dropped musnd saber, cartridge-box and knapsack hurried home to father, mother, wife, er and sister. They were returning - in squads on different trains to all parts e country; officers were giving touching ells to their commands, rendering ces of praise to the brave defenders of ation, for all the noble deeds they had and the untold sacrifices they had They expressed the deepest sorrow he bereaved friends of the lamented who had fallen on the battle-field, in ns, hospitals, in camp, or on the march, sease far from home, and the consola tion and assistance of near and dear friends. The work which they enlisted to perform. had been well done. Those returning home were the ones whom foul disease had spared and the deadly bullets of many battles had missed. They went to their homes with the proud assurance of having participated in many hard fought battles. They went to their homes as American citizens, knowing what it had cost to maintain our national integrity. They asked nothing for themselves, neither bounty, office or immunity. They asked only that they might go back to their homes, and commence anew the battle of life, and endeavor to make good the losses incurred by their absence. So they returned, but not to find things as they left them. They went home to find the farm wasted and frequently encumbered by reason of expenses, that out-ran the soldier's small income. Business had taken to itself wings; a new hand at the bench, at the forge, in the shop, behind the counter, in the office, and |