Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-08-07
Original papns.
FOR THE SPIRIT or THE AGE.
Inward Grief
BY wILLlAM 4. rERRY.

As beam Ger the face Of the waters may glow,
While the tide runs In darkness and coldness below,
20 the cheek may be tinged with sunny smile
Though the cold heart to ruin darLly the while
MOORE.
Ah, yes. IL is not always that those
whose faces wear smile and seem the hap
pies', arc the happiest, but very often they
are most unhappy. The countenance is
by no means an index OF the heart every
time. The heart may be sad and sore de-
pressed, aud yet the countenance give no
indication Of it whatever. And this in
ward grief which nestles in the heart, ever
remaining concealed there, is not uDfre-
qneutly far more bitter than that which
exhibits itself through tears and wailings
When one is grieyed, to be able to shed
tears freely, and give utterance to grief, is
often found to be source Of relief Where
as, this inward grief which is too deeply
instllled in the heart for utterance, which
dries up the fountain of tears and works
It's way incognitis, may be said with great
truth, to be consuming fire. and rare
ly ever finds its quietus except in that grim
monster, death. And oh, how often has
this inability to give expression to ore's
grief and shed tears, been the source of
reproach Of friends For instance, a mans
"he!p meet" is removed from time to
eternity-invoving him in loss which he
oonceives to be indeed irreparable-so
straining his heart strings as to nearly rend
them asunder, drying up completely the
fountain Of his tears, and sitting the pow
er Of waiing-and no emotion OF grief is
observed in him; for this reason, it is said,
He cares nothing for her !" and he is set
down as " brutal husband" Alas that
this should ever be the case, but that it
oftener is, others as well as | are well
aware.
Again, how often at parting, when one
friend is taking leave of another, to GO on
journey, by refusing to "shake hauda
or bid goodbye" have bad feelings been
engendereo without any just cause. To
illustrate this, | will relate an incident
which came under my observation. At the
parting Of the volunteers of this town from
their friends on their embarkation for Ga.
rysburg, ( believe that is the name Of the
place. one OF the "boys" refused to see
his mother and tell her good bye" the
cause, she aEd perhaps other with her, at
trbuted to hi~ want Of affection for her
" would not bave minded parting with
him." said she, if he had come aud badt
me farewell. But oh, to think that lie re
fnsad. 10 do tiris, -that-h he cared SO little toi
me, it almost breaks my heartp And the
poor woman buried her face in her hands
sobbing aloud, and shedding bitter, scorch
ing tears Of grief. At length, raising he,
head, wiping away the tears from her eyes
she made out to resume, though with con
siderable effort, " If anv one had told IN,
before that bad child that cared to lit
leave his mother Without telling her good
bye to 90 off to war, to ever return fror
which the chances are always so meagre-
say, If any one had told me these thing
before, should not have believed them
and W was such a good boy"
this she again burst into tears and with
drew from my presence.
Now, perhaps it was naughty in W
not to 20 to his mother and bid her adie,
but (knowing as feel sure do) the rel
son why he did SO, | am not disposed I
censure him for it.. And though his motl
er's grief was great much GreatpEg pEgt { tam
VS. was any the less this, notwithstauC
ing the boy not have. been seen to she'd
tear. Doubtless he considered that
could not bear to tell her goodbye =; b
emotion he might have feared, would ha'
quite. overcome him, or, if not this, tn
telling her goodbye, he could not he
weeping, and as this by some might
construed as indicating cowardice"
him, and not wishing to be termed
thought deficient in manly courage,
chose to depart quietly in the manner
did. At all events, his mother may rC
assured that he is not lacking in affecti
for her, but that hefemains the same 90
boy that he always showed himself to
when .y;tk her. She may also be assur
ofRwhen they parted he bid her good.b
IN his heart, which his eyes might hs
Z told her !! she had noticed them partiC
larly. Verify doth
"TLe heart feel more when the lips move not,
And the eyes speak gentle goodbye"
| shall resume this subject of lnwi
Grief at 10 distant day. Hence, I'M
nuan