Daily gazette and comet. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1856-186?, 1860-06-19
The Graves of Those We Love.

The grave IL the ordeal Of true affection.
IL is there the divine passion Of the soul
,pnuiIests its superiority 10 the instructive
i'm pulses of mere animal attachment. The
latter must be continually refreshed and
kept alive by the presence OF the subject,
hut the love that il seated on the soul can /
live on long embranee. The mere in
elinations of sense languishng and decli-
ming with the charms which excite them, /
turn with shuddering aud disgust from /
precincts of the tomb but tits thence that |
true spiritual affection rises, purified from |
ever SENSUAL desire, and turns like holy |
fame TO illuminate and sanctify the heart
of the survivor.
The sorrow for the dead is the only sor-
row from which we refuse to be divorced.
Every other would we seek TO heal-every
other affection TO forget but this wound
we consider It duty 10 keep open-the
| affections We cherish and brood over IN
solitude. W here is the mother who would
| not willingly forget the infant that peri'et
| like n blossnin from her arms, though
every recollection is rangf where ~
| the daughter who would willingly forget
/ the most tender parents, though TO re-
member he but to lamentF Who. eten IN
the hour of agony, would forget the friend
over whom he nouns Who, when the
tomb is closing upon the remains OF her
| yhom he most l,,ved-when he feels his
heart. as It were crushed in the closing Of
its portal-would accept consolation that
must be bought by forgetfuness NO
the love which survives the tomb ia one
of the noblest attributes Of the soul. lit
has woes, IL likewise has its delights and
W hen the whelming burst OF griet is
calmed into the gentle tear ri recollection
WI hen the sudden and convulsive agony
- al nat
loved il softened away into pensive nedi-
tation on all that IL was in the days of it's
loneliness. Who would root out such
sorrow from tie heart' Though IL may
sometimes throw passing cloud over the
bright hour Of gayety, or spread deeper
sadness over the hour Of gloom. yet who
would exchange It for the song Of pleasure
or the burst Of revelry No there IL a
. voice from the tomb sweeter than song.
r There is remen brance cfthe deadto which
we turn even from the charms OF the Nv
ing. oh. the grave the grave IL buries
every error-covers every defect-eStin-
cuisines every resentment. From its bo-
som springs none but fond regret and ten
! der recollection Who can look upon the
, grave even of az enemy and not feel com
junction that he had ever warred against
- the p,or handful of earth that lies mould
ering before him
: But the grave of those we loved--wha'
, n place of meditation There 1t il that we
call MP in long review the whole history o
= virtue and happiness, and the thousand
eudearments lavished upon ms almost u =
needed in the daily intercourse OF intiina-
!. cv the tenderness Of the parting scene
the bed of death. with oil its stifed griefs
4 its noiseless attendance, its watchsul as
sidnitiea the last testim onials Of expiring
lovs-the feeble. huttering. thrilling-oh
how thrillingl pressure of the hand-th
faint faltering accents. struggling in dealt
" to give one more assurance OF affection
Ay. 90 TO the grave Of buried love
., and mediate There settle the aecoun
~ with conscience for every past benefit IN
requitted, every past endearment unre
n parded, for that departed being who ca
, never. never return to be so0thed by tn
y contrition.
4. If thou art child, and hast ever adde
n sorrow TO thy soul. or furrow 10 th
- silver brow Of an atfec ionat parent
thou art q husband, and have ever cause
g tho fond bosom that has ventnrod II
r. whole happiness In thy arms TO doubt on
" moment OF the Kindness and truth
o. thou art friend who hast ever wr0DgeC
, IN thought or deeds or word, the spir
~ that generously confded in thee--if tho
~ art lover, aud hast ever given one M
merited pang to that heart that now liz
H. cold aud stiff beneath thy feet--then
sure that every unkind look. every ungr,
)r cious word, every ungeutle action. wi
IN come thronpinR back upon thy momoi
~ and knock dolefully upon thy soul the
10 be sure thou wilt lie down sorrowing an
rerentipg on the grave. and utter the nj
heard grosn, and pour the unavailing te'
more deep. moro bitter because unbeal
" and unavailing.
Then weave tho chaplet of flowers ar
ISL strew the beauties Of Nature about q
y. grave console thy broken spirit. If thu
~ cnnst. with thosc tender, yet fertile tribut
~ Of regret and take warning. by the bite
ness Of this, thy contrite affection over q
TO dead. and honcoforth be more faithful ~
bo affsctionato In the discarge Of thy duti
w to the living Washington Lpiag.