The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-11

49, 'NR - ~
hand of Destiny is tie hero. ltis
uncertain whether he puts the hero
last because he ranks as the supcrla-
tive in the scale Of these three scour
gcs.
This is true, however, that the third
OF these three great scourgcs is very
different from the other two in it's in
dividual effects. In both the former
instances the body itself Of every in
dividual implicated is laid hold Of.
His flesh is literally assailcd, and as
his organism dctcrioratcs, perhaps his
mind and morals dctcrioratc with it
for, generally speaking, let famine or
disease ever get u hold on Il nation,
and its valor declines. S%cIfishncss
exhibits itself where one is astonished
to obocrvc it almost unhuman cal
%lousncss characterizcs even those who
were known to be Of benevolent ten
denotes. Mothers desert their own
children in the one instance, and eat
them in the other. Children fly from
the prayers of their dying parents
under the unnatural hallucination Of
the plague. Husbands and wives
shun each other. or snatch food from
one another. All the kind relations
Of life are reversed under the poison
ing influence Of either famine or dis
case. 1t is understood, there are
noble exceptions to the rule but this
is the rule.
War wakes up and intcnsitics the
pure emotions. Patriotism, the back
bone Of sentiment, defense of home,
arouscs a latent bravery that might,
without the voice Of war, have re-
manned unknown. And all the dear
domestic loves are tcnfold strength
cncd, when the possibility arises of
saying goodbye to the brother or the
son or the sweetheart bound on the
grave and hazardous expedition Of war,
of saying goodbye with a large posi-
bility Of never saying welcome. Oh,
then, if even down underneath the
crusts of our s~clf-ccntercd and unsym-
pathetic hearts there is the smallest
spot Of space which is capable &c hold
ing the image of another, surely at
that moment that spot of space ex-
pands, that germ of affection shoots q
bud. Surely then, if our eyes are of
that polite sort that never commit the
blundcr of a tear, surely they will at
least, at such a moment, smart a little.
y, war is a strong conjunction!
Here is a picture of one of the Incl
dents () Of Napoleon's Waterloo. We
have all read it in that monument of
fiction, lies Hiiscrabies but ii is not
unworthy a sccond reading. This pic
turc may be called an incarnation of
war. This could be the picture Of
nothing but war-you volunteers Of
Georgia: you bright-cycd, gay-hcartcd
heroes. This is one of the accidents
only Of war. Listen
"All at once, tragic to relate, at the
left of the English, and on our right,
the head of the column of cuirassiers
reared with q frightful clamor. Ar
rived at the eliminating point of the
crest (of a small elcvation,) uamanage-
able. full Of fury, and bent upon the
determination of the squares and can
mons (of the English) the cuirassicrs
saw between themselves and the Eng
fish a ditch, a grave. 1t was the
sunkcn road of Chain.
cit was a frightful moment. There
was the ravine unlocked for, yawning
at the very foot of the horses, two
fathoms deep between It's double slope.
The second rank pushed in the first,
the third pushed in the second tho
horses reared, threw themselves over,
fell upon their backs, and struggled
with their feet in the air, piling up
aud overturning their riders no power
to retreat the whole column was
nothing but a projcctile. The force
acquired to crush the English crushed
the French. The incxorablc ravinc
could not yield until it was filled !;
riders and horses rolled in together
pcll-mcll, grinding each other, making
common, flesh IN this dreadfu! snlf.
and when this grave was full of living
men, the rest marched over them and
passed on. Almost a third OF Dubois
brigade sank into this abyss. Here
the loss Of the battle began"
This sunkcn road Of Ohain goes
down in history as one of the mon
strosities Waterloo and the sunken
road Of Ohain look not like a scourge,
but revenge-if one might say the
word Of God. And that sunken road
filled half brigade was the first letter
Of the doom Of Napoleon. St. Helena