Pilot Knob, Mo. May 10^th, 1863.

 

            My Dear Wife,

                                    Yours of the 4^th inst. I rec'd yesterday, being just four days from the time it left Belinda till it reached its destination. This is a little quicker time than any Belinda letter ever made to Benton Barracks

 

                        It relieved me a good deal to hear that all of you were once more on foot. Taking every thing into consideration, you have had a real tedious and tough winter of it. But your coast seems clearer now than it has at any time since we left home. Harvey's work is shoving him a little now but I guess it will come out right yet. You whispered / something very softly about Meda, Jim, Caroline and Frank, but I understood every word of it. How scrupulously particular are both young and old married people and even some that are not married, about complying with the scriptural injunction—Go forth, multiply and replenish the earth. The inclination towards the fulfillment of this command is so general in Pleasant Tp that any person might be led to believe our neighbors were extremly religious. Before I leave the baby subject I must acknowledge, that, so far as my judgment goes, you are entitled to the palm for eloquence in baby language, at any rate I will not pretend to rival you for the victory, but if I was / at home, I know Pa would love Olie and Olie would love her Pa as much as she does her Muzzy. And sometimes when Muzzy was holding Olie, Olie would hold out her little hands towards her Pa, then Pa would take Olie and toss her up and would be so well pleased to see Olie laugh. When Muzzy goes to town to get Olie's picture taken for Pa, Olie must be a good girl and set real still. Pa wants to see Olie's picture awful bad. Pa never saw Olie but he knows that Olie is seet for Muzzie told him so. Muzzy must kiss Olie for Pa every day.

 

            I expect the Rev. Silvester Foster's sermon was one continuous burst of eloquence profusely / mixed with ahems! and W-e-l-l-s I imagine his picture of endless perdition was so vividly expressed that that portion of his audience which do not pay quarterage felt real uneasy about their brimstone inheritance.

 

            What a mockery is such a doctrine! It robs every truly good action of its real virtue by smearing it over with selfishness. No person would give me credit for a favor if he knew I did it for self aggrandizement. Nor is the motive a pure one that impels a man to do right merely through fear of a penalty. A truly religious man is always awake to devotional feelings, and he will contemplate the variety and beauty of the external world, not to find fault with it, and pronounce it all vanity and wickedness, but for the purpose of developing its scientificate wonders, in doing which he will always refer to and adore that Infinite Wisdom through whose beneficence he is permitted to enjoy knowledge. In becoming wiser he will become better; he will rise at once in the scale of intellectual and moral existence; his increased / sagacity will be subservient to a more exalted faith; and in promotion as the vail becomes thinner through which he sees the causes of things he will admire more the brightness of the divine light by which they are rendered perceptable. In my opinion Divines (I do not mean such as Silvester Foster) should teach more and preach less; and the people should think more and be duped less. I am glad that I can say of myself, Dear Loo can I not say the same of you too, that we are now and ever shall be utterly free from the bonds of Priest-craft? Have I in these few words expressed any part of your own sentiment on the subject or not? I leave you to answer these two question for yourself; / and as I did not intend to make this an essay on my views of religion I would quit the subject for the present by singing The Star Spangled Banner, Hail Columbia or Yankee Dudle.

 

We have just been startled with the glorious news that Richmond is ours. That is good enough for Old Joe Hooker's commencement if it is only true. It lacks confermation yet.

 

Harvey's miniature came through all right and I will soon be looking for Olie's.

 

Sometimes it puzzles me a little to tell from the reading of your letters whether you are writing at home, Dad's or Belinda For the sake of convenience suppose / you adopt some name for home. I would suggest the name, Black Oak Pt. For Dad's you can use some other name.

 

            As this letter cannot go out till tomorrow, I will neither close or mail it today and perhaps I can write some more tomorrow morning.

 

Monday morning.

            Beautiful weather and all in jubulant spirits over the good news.

 

We have heard nothing more from our marching orders.

 

                                                            Yours very affectionately

                                                                                    Enos Reed.

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