The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-05-25
The csntennlal--:cov. Chamberlain. f..''.
Hon. ID. 81. Chamberlain. Governor of

| ooutn carolina, was announced ct the
Charlotte Centennial celebration ON In
dependence Square. Ho was greeted
with applause and spoke to the multi
tudo in the following language: t,} >;
| FELLOW CITIZENS: I rise to offer to you
and this assemblage the cordial response
of the people of South Carolina to the
sentiment which has just been an
nounced, and to MI the fearless memo
l1es, the high inspirations and the exalt-
ing hopes which this occasion commem-
olates and suggests. i know full we'll TINT
l speak to-day for South Carolina chiefly
because it is my fortune to be her official
representative. Older, nbler, better
voices than mine will, cannot doubt,
speak for her-voices of those who have
sprung from this soil, who know as
household words the traditions of the
Cnrolinas, who will represent more nde-
quately than I can hope to do, the genus
loci which has inspired, which still in
spires, and which know will continue
to inspire, and direct tho eager, jealous,
fcrvid and constant patriotism of the
, men Of Mecklenburg md Carolina But
| what heart, if it be IN American heart.
whether it spring to life beneath these
sunny skies, or where nature presents
herself in more rugged md repellant
forms; what heart, touched with one
spark of the divine fame of love of
| country, does not bound and swell to
greet and welcome this day and this oc-
casion2
If Marathon and Platncn, after 1000
years, still speak the lesson. of devoted
and valorous patriotism; if Runnymede,
after six centuries, is still name for
English patriots to conjure by; if Mars
ton Moor, though the heather and the
daisy have covered the last trnces of the
| shock and carnage of her battle for more
than POO years, is still marked by reve-
| rent pilgrims rs the spot where the long
night Of kingly prerogntive wos ended by
| the grny dawn of the new and glorious
dny of the peoples rights; with what
measure of gratitude to God, of honor to
our ancestors, of patriotic gratulation
and gladness, shonld VIC, Americans,
Carolinians, greet this spot, where, as
we firmly and advisedly believe, only
100 years ago, the first formal utterance
| of the great idea of American independ-
ence was heard.
10 man who believes in human pro-
gress, to one who sees and reverence5
the divine hand in human affairs-I care
not III what section or country his sym
deed done in Charlotte town, in Neck
lenburg County, May 20, ITS, will stand
at once rs monument and an inspira-
ton, trophy and n prophecy, of the
sure and pre-ordained coming Of the day
when the feeble light which famed forth
here hundred years ago, shall fill the
whole world. The Declaration of Neck
lenburg! It was but n spoken word-un
articulated breath of this universal air
yet it was q deed, battle, n victory.
No cannon thundered it; no telegraph
flashed it; yet it was '.heard round the
world"
THAT death-shot shook the feudal tower,
Aud shattered siaverp's chain we'll;
On the skys dome, bell,
It's echo struck the worlds grea, hour
The men of Mecklenburg! They were
the plain farmers, physicians, lawyers
and ministers of this secluded canton,
unambitious of fame, seeking nothing
but their accustomed rights, the moral
rs we'll as lineal children of John Knox.
resolute before men as they were reve-
rent before God. Col. Thomas Polk, n
heart ns pure and brave as Richard Cnur
dc Lion, Doctor Ephraim Brevard, the
gentle scholor and physician, the flame
of whose devotion Of liberty never flick
cred till it was quenchcd by the damps
OF a British prison-ship five years later
these, and such rs they were, the men
who alone, self-inspired, in advance OF
all others, Mt the time when Thomas JEFF
ferson was writing to John Randolph.
II would rather be in dependence on
Great Britain, properly limited, than on
any nation on earth, or than on no nation, u
sounded the first signal-notc of absolute
revolt and independence. We tear no
leaf to-day from the brow of any Revolu-
| tionary patriot, who elsewhere by pen or
sword, upheld tho same great cause We
seek only with the jealousy Of tilial rcve-
renee and love to guard the fame, to
honor the memory, to proclaim early
nboundlng and impetuous patriotism OF
the men Of Mecklcnburg
| A few simple virtues constitute tho
sum and perfection Of human greatness.
Simplicity of character, singlencss OF
aim, consistency of purpose, "readiness
to do or dare whatsoever is commanded
by the inward voice of native manhood
such qualities in due combination
have made the true heroes of all ages.
or such stuff the heroes of Mecklenbure
were made. do not for moment con-
quences Of their acts here 100 years ago
The gift of prophecy was long since
Withdrawn from mortal man. These men
caught no glimpse, venture to say, OF
the America Of thirty-seven States, O.
40, 100000 of people, stretching from
ocean to ocean, covering every sea with
her commerce, and reaching every land
with her influences. They loved theil
homes and their families; they valued
their home-born rights md privileges
the dear Offs of honored sires thav raye