The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1853-11-29
MislfllanronS.
Everyday Giinlp>">.
81 MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

way. last evcng engaged III grave and earn
est converse. One of them WAS in the prime
of manhood witha flee, firm step, full round
tones. and as any one could discover at Il
glance, an unbroken spirit.
The other was somewhat Older in years.
and a great deal ol,ler in hcart-;my one cpui!
tell Mdt too. Ah. an old heart is a wearicr
weight than the burden Pilgrim bore, III the
immortal dream Of the tinker.
Just as we passed we caught the w"rdS, 81
might have been -. The Jar "t wheels
drowned the rest but it WAS enough tor Il
song or a sermon-that 81 might have been.
The rlaintivc ut,erance haunted US, we heard
it in the midst of merry voices, and blasts OF
music; we heard it through the 81 Ching wind
and the rattlinr rain it was sylablrd in the
silent night, and we are writing it this morn
ing.
The schoolmcn have invented six lenses III
grammar but really there are only three, the
slarkng Present, the hopeful Future, and the
melancholy Plurericct.
81 shall be-" and 81 might have been y the
former the music of youth, sweet rs the sounh
Of bells fresh us
"Thc breezy call OF nccnsc.brca,uc morn,
the latter, the pIaint Of age, the dIrge of hope.
the inscripion for tomb. Tie one trrnhIeS
upon thin, pale lips, Iarchcd with ''litr 5 fl "
fever" the other >weNS from strong Young.
hearts, to lips rounded and dewey with the
sweetness cfh"pc and the tuines> Of Stren.th
The one is timed by i heart that llut'er>, III
terni,S 1u;ters and out; while that "i
the other beats right on, III the b"ld sterr
march oi life.
IL shall hc,' ana II might have b"en."-
Wha, toll and trouble, time and tears. are re.
{, jrdrd in those little worts-thc very S''""g-
ya.hv Of life. How like a hu@" c:!ii is that
81 shall be-" from a Young s"ni, strong IL
prophecy. Il shall DC great, i"n"rrd, al
fuent good
al >lall be-" whispers Tie glad g;rl To her
self as if with one foot upon In" threshold "i
,womanhood, she catches the breath i'"'i IN"
SUMNER field Of Iife--"I hail he 'ornd by and
,bv =! That is her aspiration ; for /" D. loved
lis to BE- hapl!.
IL shall be-" said the struggling boy, 81
shal! be the pu>>eSsnr of a little h"'nc OF my
own. and Il little wife >nuc day. aud ia" h"'n"
shall be "0wrS' and the wife shall Hc maze, and
then--" whr, can ill out those "thruS !--wh"
hut the painter who has dipped WI pen
in sr.n-ct--who but the poet whose lips haze
been Touched with coal fresh ."in the altar
OF inspiration
81 shall be--victorious yrt,' mnrfnurS the
man in the middle watch, wh" had been bat
t.iug with foes ill night feI, and i praying Ike
the Greek for the dawn aya!n. that he InIGht
see to fight
81 shall be-" fain,iv hrcaihcs the Ianguisl-
ing upon her couch Of pain-''l shall he bet
ter Tomorrow, or Ia morrow and >h" ilv"S
on. because she hopes ON, and she grows
strong "ith the shall be" she has uttered.
And the strong man armed, who has "tnnght
the q, 0 linll," and has "krii The faith, when
they that sustained his extended hands ,hr"
the battle, are departing. aud no Jo>hha TO
bid the declining sun "s,and still, a. he looks
beyond the rugged hills Of the WORLD and sees
a window opened in heaven, and 4 w'nndrd
hand put forth in wclco,nr. lays aside the ar
NOR ll. has worn So hong and ~cll. and going
down in the dark river, he uttrrs, with hope
gloriied to faith, al shall be over the Jordan
to-m"rrow."
Before the memory has Il tomb in it-hc("rc
it becomes the cemetery, the "Grrcnw""d' of
the suu--''I shall he" is beautiful a> an old
ballad. When graves are diggcd therein, aud
willows planted, and hopes are buried, and
no ligh, breaks out of the cloud, then shall
be" is as grand as an old Pecan. When
The battle Is done. the harp unstrung,
It's music trembling, dying.
then 81 shall be" is as sublime as an old proph-
ecy
But there is another tense in this Grammar
OF Life, it were well To remember; the spark