Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-12-05
THE ADVERTISER.
Edgeaeld, S. c., Dec. 8, 1872.
The Tournament and Ball Of the Pal-
matto Sabre Club.

In our urSC CanuOuuCoLuoh1o' eiio AooA
nament and Ball of the Palmetto Sabre
Club, we predicted they would prove
such d brilliant and joyous occasion as
Edgefield had not known since long be-
fore the war. And so it turned out TO
the letter. Major. w. T. Gary, President
of the Club, and his Committeeman and
assistants had worked like men in ear
nest, and when the day came, all was
so arranged as to insure that the first fete
of the Club should be an honor and
a triumph. i.5li
The morning dawned bright, but In
tensely cold. and with sharp and cut
ting wind. But this deferred no one.
By IL o'clock all .Edgefield, within ten
| miles of the town, was gathered upon
the field-the ladies brilliantly dressed
in the height of the gorgeous styles now
in vogue. At about noon, the Club,
spendidly mounted and in full uniform
| repaired to the scene. They were pre-
ceded by their honored guests, q dePn-
tation from the Augusta Sabre. Clnp,
LyBrand's celebrated Columbia nand
making the air peal with martial music
the while. Soon after their arrival, Gem.
| John D: Kennedy of Camden, that dis
tineuished soldier Of the late war, noun
ted upon a powerful bay, was introduced
to the Club, drawn ppin line before him,
and proceeded TO make them the follow
ng beautiful address: 80 ) D. =. ''''
Gentlemen of the Palmetto Sabre Cab:
In response to the very kind Invitation
of the Ladies' Of your County, / AM here
to-day 10 represent them In this most in
| teresting ceremony; and although con
| scious OF nv inability to do justice to
them or 1t, I bring to the task willing
and appreoiative heart, ;, The pleasure is
enhanced by the fact thatI stand In the
midst OF comrades and sons OF comrades,
and have an opportunity of looking upon
the homes of those whose gallantry il
the field prepared me to behold the cul-
tiyation and refinement Of their hearth
stones. The scene here presented re
minds me of the peering forth of the sun
amid dark and lowering clouds when
the storm has wrapped the heav ems in
it's sombre mantle. It isa rift in the
darkened. sky. which oyercasts us; aud
to-day. surrounded by the beauty Of
vour tirne-honored District, we feel that
there is life In the old land yet and that
there is much; aye, very much, to live,
act, and hope for yet. The tempest has
for wears 1ashed its fury about us dark,
rolling. clouds have obscured our horizon
| aud hidden from us every landmark-
But this scene is beacon-light which
cheers the soul and nerves the heart
anew. And, my friends, it is no nean-
ingless ceremony or empty pageant, but
has a moral which points truth and
illustrates principle. It Is an'evidence
of your elastic spirits under the depres
sions of these sad days; OF your frater-
nal, social spirit in banding yourselves
together. II is proof Of mutual good
will and an augury OF better times; it
shows clearly that you have the courage
which defies. adversely, and that you
dare to hold up your heads and be men.
And standing to-day on this classic 'soil,
about MS, and methinks,: the spirits OF
statesmen and soldiers lowering around
us. and with this throng of devoted,
lovely women beauning upon us with
their heavenly smiles, and sending you
this offering Of their affection, woven by
their own delicate hands, the symbol not
of CORY warfare, but tribute of their
appreciation Of your endurance Of the
woes YOU have suffered, and. a harbinger
of your future prosperity, what theme
is there more appropriate for ME than,
as briefly as possible, to call to your at
tention two OF those characteristics which
have in the past made South Carolina
what she was and which, though foes
may deride, and vainly in their hearts Uf
hearts wish to emulate, are yet, under
different auspices, to redeem and save
her. And ] deem this particularly ap.
propriate, ~ the representative Of these
fair donors, who are to-day truer to their
dear old Mother, In her hour of calamity
and atfiiction, than they were even when
she stood proud among the .proudest in
wealth, prosperity and peace. =.
One OF these characteristics Is devotion
to duty. The history Of South Carolina
is one corruscation of this virtue-a de
yotion which knew no measure, counted
no cost. Turn to every page of that his
tory, and there you find it beanlinS with
the steady ray of the North Star. You
see it in the patriots of the Revolution
who dared to rebel against unjust and
tyramical usurpation Of power, and left,
rs monuments of their devotion, Kings
Mountain, EutaW, and Camden. 1t
Stirred tho.llearts Of her noble SONS who
planted this Palmetto on tho gates of
Mexico. And it was this that fired the
souls Of old men and boys, matrOns and
maidens, in the late war. and on hun.
| dred FIELDS added undying lustre to the
glory Of South Carolina. II was this
that gloritied the sacrifice of Bee and
jenkins, and wreathed with beautiful
halo the dying brow of Bland. Amid
the crllmbijng ruins of Sumter, ON the
storm swept heights of Gettysburg, along
every slope or plain, wherever duty call
cd, her sons rushed to the slaughter. This
it was that made her private soldiers,
the real heroes OF every field, endure hun
yer, fatigue, exposure, whether in the
SHOWS Of winter OF heats of summer.
And those lowlY mounds scattered from
the Potomac tD the Mississippi are silent
but eloquent meInentoos OF their levo-
ton 10 duty. This it w;rS that cnthused
the intellect of Calhoun; inspired the
tongues of Hayne, McDutlie and Pres
ton; and filled to overtiowing the states
manship and patriotism Of Pickens.
Time would fail to speak of the noble
sons of your own gallant District, whose
memories are household words. An at
tempt to enumerate some might do in-.
Justice TO others. This devotion to duty
was cxernpliiied in their every act and
sealed with their hearts blood. ..,u. &
And certainly there never was a time
when South Carolina more demanded
this virtue of her sons than now. The
past is gone save in its remembrances
and influences. Living under new
order of things, with new-iluties and re-
sponsibilities, she calls upon her sons TO
rise to THO e{igencies of the situation
and, while bowling to the Inevitable, and
accepting for hQr good 10 much az be
necessary for that good. yet tn ho true.
earnest. devoted, and, above all things,
pure and unsullied, not doing aught that
would degrade their manhood or alsify
her record for honesty, integrity and
virtue.
The great fountain from which this de-
votion sprang. was the intense love of
their native State engcndered by nature
in the breasts af hPr sa,s. Small In area
inspired them with love for her that
knew no boulnls. Misunderstood by
her nearest nei .lilors, this love was re.
by Others ~ false prido. Be its cause or
effect, however, what they may, it was
as beautiful a. it was strong. 1t was the
stimulus to duty, the promoter Of virtue.
the custodian Of her interests, and kept
her free from the disgusting venality
which has mMts hnr latter daysa byword
4 IL - =. II