s they rush
into the jaws of death, and are rolled away on the fiery billows of the
mighty conflict. We feel all the frenzy of the deadly strife as if we
were in the midst of it; and yet, though we strain our inward vision to
the utmost, no ray of light comes from the terrible scene to inform us
how the scale of victory inclines. We only know that thousands of our
brothers lie on the battle field dead or dying, wounded and suffering,
and we anticipate the melancholy wail which their wives and children,
their brothers and friends will utter on the morrow. Shall it be mingled
with shouts of victory, and softened by the sweet consolation that the
death and suffering of so many noble victims have been repaid by the
safety of our country, and the reestablishment of liberty under the
glorious Constitution of our fathers?

* * * * *

THE RELIEF.--Time rolls on. In spite of anxieties and torturing
uncertainties; over broken hearts and ruined hopes; over fields of
slaughter, where the harvest of death has been garnered in abundance so
great as to sicken the soul of man; over pillaged cities and countries
laid waste; over all the works of man, good and bad, time rolls on,
careless alike of the joys and sorrows, the victories and defeats of
men and nations. And, with the steady and remorseless march of time,
events, however bound up with the mightiest interests of mankind,
necessarily hasten to their consummation. The web of fate is
unravelled--the tide of battle flows in its irrevocable course, and
having stranded the hopes of the defeated power, there is no ebb, no
reflux, by which the disaster may be undone, and the ruined cause
restored again to prosperity and hope.

Gradually the cloud breaks away from the battle field, and the various
incidents and accomplished results of the contest become known. The
silent, faithful wires, stretching away to the intervening cities and
villages, are burdened with their mysterious messages, to be delivered
from time to time to the expectant crowds who await them with eager
impatience. With the dawn of Independence Day, some gleams of light come
up from the scene of conflict, and some encouraging words are heard from
high quarters. In their patriotic assemblages, the people are full of
hope and confidence, though still not without intense anxiety with
regard to the final result, yet imperfectly made known. Every additional
message, with which the wires trembl