Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1869-12-11
- aarnnnAr EIanr.

seems Ikea nOblestee fairly tFemh
ling with nervous eageFness 10 be
OF in chase, perhaps, OF some ignHi
Jatuus, some wild scheme Of hope
and ambition. And once the OBJ.
ject started OF Aies the impOtuous
youth, confident and fearless until,
finding be gains not upon the sub.
jeCt Of his ambitious chase, he
sinks down weaFied and discouF.
aged, but only 10 revive and soon
to resume the same fruitless pur.
suit and find the same fruitless
result.
But, ali, this golden yonth! We
never know what "halcyon days
mean until when far up tho hill Of
life we have climbed and standing
amid few spots Of verdure and
many Of barrenness we see away
down below, back upon the path
we came, the streams with yer.
dant banks, the flowers and groves
and fruits for all which we cared
little then, but nOW yearn for, oh,
50 lovingly, so ardently, yet so
hoplessly. Yea, even when our
life has reached the "sere and vel.
low leaf" on a fresh, balmy, spring
like, morning, with the gushing
song of birds and the silvery gilt
ter Of waters, there comes over the
Cankercd heart a choking sense Of
past JOY experimentation? in
this life, or some other, some pre-.
viOus existence, passed, perhaps, in
one Of those planetary worlds now
90 bright, small and wonderful
to our eyes? No, not this: but Il
lie the faint but conscious dawning
Of inefIable pleasures that we had
unConsciOusly stored away in our
youth aud which now can some
times barely lift away the rubbish
accumulated through life and guide
our wistful senses to a knowledge
which comes too late-that our
"halcyon days" were those When
the blood was fresh, the limbs Wig
OrOus, the mind free, the heart
pure and Hope sweet.
All, youth Blessed youth !
Happy, careless and frcel How
little we know and appreciate thy
blessings, aud how shamfully, too
often, we abuse thy opportunities
and shrink thy budding promises
into the bitter and shriveled kerr
nell
Yes, that 10 q fine looking man
His face though pale and his eyes
sunken, yet his face indicates soul
aud intelligence aud, surely, such a
man as that was intended for some
noble purpose! Surely youth, with
all its golden opportunities, cannot
have fitted away from him and left
him far over the verge Of manhood,
as unlearned, unprepared and
unreliant as when a child, without
that freshness, purity aud buoy.
anCy!
The waters OF his life are troubled
aud bitter aud poisonous although
the surface tells not the shuddering
tale which lies hidden beneath.
Yes, he is a fine looking man and
his face aud form seem to mark
him out for hOnor's favorite and
fortunes child. And is it not so,
and why
Alasl the tcmp;cr tempted aud
he fell.
Yes fell from purity to sin
from innocence to vice from the
love Of kindred and home to the
society Of the vile and degraded
from cOntentmcnt aud industry to
a TestlusR recklcssuess and disgiDa-
ton.
How can we tell of his midnight
orgies and debaucheries in company
with his lcwd and desperate com.
paniOns' How can we tell of the
agonizing hours he has hung over
the gaming table, seeking to sup.
ply means to provide those degra.
ding excitements which his temper
and habits craved. How can we
tell how his poor shattered body
sank beneath the load imposed
upon it and his almost dead heart
confronted him with terrible accu-
sations which curdled his blood
and phrenzied his brain. How
can we, oh, how can VIC tell
of his changing moods of bitter.
ness and savageness, humility and
dc peration, hope aud despair,
throughout his wild career, and the
solemn apathy when the crushing
news came that father had died,
that mother had died, and sisters
and brothers, and that sweet, darl-
ing babe which was to bind his
heart to herS-that poor, patient,
suffering wife, striving, struggling,
and praying for him,
that desperate, degraded, fallen
man, but her husband. o, God!
will the bounty of Thy mercy reach
even here and bow tho sinneragain
at Thy fOotstool ? Willitreach even
here aud reward the patient virtues
of that loving, agonizing wife p
VIII ii reach here and swectCn
these bitter, poisonous waters
contented, placids age. See
that old man, his form yet noble,
though frail, and his silvery hair