New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-11
Pregnant Words.

Mr.. Edtt0T-In late number of your journal !
noticed an article, by Prentice, think, on "preg-
nant words.n What he says therein of the vol
umes indicated by words which we daily read neg
lgenty, never thinking anything of their vast i'm
portance, is verified by even the everyday life of
adweler in the country like myself w.
Wandering, the other day, without any definite
object, CHANGED upon quiet country church
yard. Attracted by the aspect of peace and re-
pose which everything wore, 1 entered the gate,
which, contrary to usual custom, was unlocked, as
if to indicate that the people of the parish re-
garded it not only as home of the dead, but as a
resort for the living. Continuing my walk among
the tombs occupied myself for some time read
ing the various epitaphs. / was struck with the
simplicity of one. 1t was the words 70 My Wife"
inscribed upon plain slab or marble. None save
those most interested knew who laid there, and
none save they would care. To me those two
words told a tale of strong and tender love, which
had daily behed its object fading into immortality
from its sight but yet which could give no relief,
which could offer no balm, and could only suffer
and suffer on, until the beloved one, released from
earthly thraldom, winged its fight upward, when
it broke forth in passionate wall of despair and
anguish, and could almost have cursed God and
died.n And all that the world knows of this su-
quiet church-yard
And are not such unnotced sutferings common?
All! if one mind could comprehend all the misery
now in the world the contemplation would be a
burden too grevous to be borne. We hear of
great battle-a glorious victory! 10000 killed and
wounded! We peruse the account with feeling
of exultation, and hasten to tell the news to our
friend, that we may rejoice together. But do we
ever reflect upon the meaning of those words
g ten thousand killed and wounded?" Do they
suggest to our minds the shrieks and groans which
fill the air during engagement? Do they tell us
of the thousand forms of torture which gallant
men undergo? of the crunch of the surgeons saw
over bones, or the intense agony produced by the
jOstling of the ambulance, when every nerve is at
its highest tension? Do they remind us of the
heart beating high with the first flush of 3" man
hoods might" doomed to have all its glorious as
prations cut short by the cruel bullet? Do they
tell us of the homes made desolate? of the
widows and orphans whose cries shall go up to
God? No And it is Just because we do not
think OF all these things that we eXult in victory.
We're they always present to our imagination,
every sentiment OF pleasure would be driven away.
But Mr. Editor, there other battlefelds, the
ConquerOr in which must possess a subllmer cour-
age than he who but imperils his life. There are
other conflicts, none the less stern because blood
less-none the less terrible because animal life is
not assaulted-in which the stake is mans soul
the weapons, on the one side Principalities ant
Powers, and the Rulers of the Darkness of this
World, !" and on the other the 'Armor of Righteous
ness" and the Sword of the Spirit" MANY E
victory has been won that has not been blazonet
forth in gazettes-many heart broken withou
elicting murmur. In the crowded street and the
silent chamber-at busy MONDAY, and quiet mid
night. these heart struggles have been fought
The names of the yictors are inscribed on ne
marble tablet history does not record their deed
among those Of her braVest and best, but, 'Verily
they shall have their reward" And these con
flicts are going on daily around u.s. The maj
whom we meet in everyday life, and whom We
look upon IS rather an ordinary individual may
have been conquerng strife, invisible indeed, tt
u.s. but whose results shall be told at the last greG
day,
When reflect upon the amount of suffering
physical and mental, with which, by divine ap
pointment, earth is filed, and endesvor to decide
why it should have entered here, in vain inter
rogate the wisdom of the past and the intellect o
the present search my own soul, but the an
sWer s not there until, at last, I am forced Il
acknowledge with the pathologist, that, however
acute may be the reasoning upon what we know
however accurate the experiment upon what w
perceive, the grand first principle must remain IN
known until the day when al secrets shall be un
folded. ANXIOUS.