Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-05-25
ERIT OF TnE AGE

Suggested 1hil0 reGd:ng a letter, containing de.
scription Of the Grand Military Pio-nic," at
Sc Fort Fisher"
"The 6au commenced early in the afternoon, s-a
continued until late the next morning" Can it To-
that there many heartess creatures in cur sun
ny south I No wonder the brave Jackson was taken
from US and thousands of homes are made dsso,atei
While the giddy throng whirled in the daace-whle
the mellow laugh rang out the night air the elds
aud forests of Virginia covered with the slain
the hills echoed the dying groans of scores of gal
lant soldiersl
Did not each plank beneath the feet Of the dancers
give back soldiers dying groan? DID not the music
sound hollow the tattoo on cofin's I'D? And
did not the estooned walls appear ch&rnei house
Were the robes of the mirthful brig< and beauIitn
or cid they not, blushing for the wearcis turn to
mourning weedsp Gould the sons and daughters ot .
this noble State minglein this Of galety whic
their brothers and lovers wallowng in blood,
and vail of agony escaping every tree Southern
hearth It is not strange that the "houFs passedso
slow away" for the foot of time only falls noiscesS
when it treads on howers and flowers could not
blaom beneath the feet of those who, forgetting the
suffering sodiery forgetting the broken aud brelved
hearts-and forgetting God who made them, could.
plunge in the gay throng, never remembering that
the Uonfederacy, from PotoGnacs shores to the Rio
Grande, iswaing for its deadI
How sad to remember that aoon1an far forgetting
her mission, could, needless Of the groans of the
dying, the shrieks of the wounded ard The amenta-
tons of the bereayed, mngle in ungoldly thropg;
so unlike Eomau's true characteri Yet it is 50 the
gentle but misguided creature instead OF seeking the
closet and pouring out her soul in prayer to God was
found in the ballrooml Aye, tho ballroom when
| q lover CT brother died away the cory field IH
the ball room when the spirits Of loved crossed
! the gloomy JordaRl Did no ghastiy hgurca watcf
i Ind the Fort Were not CHASTITY cons tlnt-
. zssn Z -.
-for heaven-reaching prayer Every so,itb snc,
Shouia ee praying praying for the soldiers - :
/ wounded veterans who are languishing in .r.. :, -
hospitals. 1t is too late now to prov for tb, -,
the great jackson, whose mutilated form sianSs -,
last sleep; yet 1t was not too late to pray him an
/ tho night OF tho 9th inst, when instead of nr,v
from Fort Fisher, there wentuo song of 10Y Som
OF the tbsn1ang ones at the Fort looked upon Tia
whole affair as an outrage. A soldier writing frn,
there, says. there were no ladies here from O.
nor s.. | honor them for their better indoo
ment."
Surrounded as we are by all that is caculated to
fill the heart with woe let us for time Law aside al
mrth-let US be sober and serious-et us be praver
ful. The soldiers arm nerved by prayer. but
never by the gddly scenes Of mirth Gould our SOL
diers know that we went three times each day to
God to pray 10 their behalf the heart of the most
reckless would be touched, and the sinking hearts
) would be filled with vigor. Then, instead O.
dancing with the proud officer let us pray for the
humble private pray for the officer too but the frst
prayer should be for the private whom we owe our
ST present freedom May God teach US to pray Alright
ERATO.
Fair Bluff; n. c., May l6, 1868. III.