Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-10-12

still grasping his weapon, and standing erect
and firm, where he had been placed on duty
thousand years before Let us so discharge
our duty my friends; and the glad cry OF ''alls
we'll :" resounding from our political watch
towers will awaken the slumbering echoes of
the patriotic past, and carry to the distant fu-
ture the promise of peace, prosperity and hap
piness.
To you, young gentlemen of the Kings
Mountain Military School and others OF the
rising generation Of CarOinians, this future is
committed. The men of rs have long since
passed away and those of '6l are rapidly fol-
lowing them ''across the river, to rest under
the shade of the trees" And to the young
men of to-day, the State must soon look for SOL
ders to fight her battles-statesmen to frame
her laws-earnest workers in every calling
that contributes to her progress, and above
all, for honest, true hearted men who shall
always shield her from dishonor, and maintain
unsulied, that exalted character which is the
brightest jewel in her crown.
1t matters little in what capacity you serve,
80 that you serve her well. And allow me to
say that within thelimits Of the State, might
safely say throughout the entire South, you
could have selected no institution better CAL
cuated by the principles upon which it is
founded, the character of its instructors, and
the high standard it has always maintained,
to fit you for the duties that lie before you,
than the one you have the honor to represent
to-day, and under whose auspices these cere-
monies are conducted.
The Kings Mountain Military School has Il
record in which the State, as well as you,
may feel a just and becoming pride. Nearly
twenty-eight years ago it began it's useful and
honorable career, and never once during that
whole period, has it deviated zone jot or tit
tle'' from the high standard fixed for it by its
founders. Nor has it ever ceased it's work III
the great cause for which it was established.
do not omit the four years of war, during
which it's doors were closed for in that period,
every officer who had been connected with the
institution, and the seven hundred cadets
who had been instructed within it's walls,
were illustrating on almost every battlefield
of the Confederacy, those lessons of honorable
manhood which were cardinal principles in its
code OF instruction.
Of it's officers, two gave their lives to the
State-the brave and faithful Seabrook fell
upon the plains of Manassas in '62, and the
gallant and knightly Jenkins, at the Wilder
ness in ga. And ere the struggle closed,
numbers of those seven hundred noble boys,
the ex-cadets, slept ''the sleep that knows no
waking" May the sods of the battle field
rest lightly upon their young and manly
breasts and may their example be cherished
as sacred legacy by you, their successors,
Since the close of the war, the school has
shared the fortunes of the State, sometimes
hourishing, at others, depressed. And it has
the proud distinction of being the only purely
military institution that survived the war,
and until the recent re-opening Of the State
Military Academy, the only one in the State.
Through all it's 1icissitudes of fortune, its dis
tinguished Principal has labored with wonder
full energy and unwavering faith i'll his appoln-
ted line of duty, until he has at length been
called by the almost unanimous voice OF his
fellow-citizens to the control Of the educa-
tiOnal interest of the entire State. This or
itself is the highest and most emphatic en-
dorsement of the principles and methods upon
which the institution is founded, and the rare
ability with which it's requirements have been
met.
When the corner stone of your institution
was laid, more than quarter OF century
ago, the orator of the occasion, a distinguish
ed son of Carolina, now no more, pronounced
these earnest and impressive words MAY
the great Architect of the Universe Vouchsafe,
that upon this stone a structure shall rise
beautiful in it's proportion, perfect III ltS
strength, aud glorious in the designs for which
it is erected. And may the interior OF It's
walls become school of virtue and wisdom,
fortitude and truth, and so continue from age
to age" Thus far the wish has been fulfilled.
And here upon this anniversary occasion, may
we not be permitted to express the confident
hope, that with returning prosperity among
our people, it may again become strong Ill
numbers, as it is in usefulness and honor
and that it may never bear upon. its shield
stain unworthy Of it's historic name and its
own unblemished past.
At the conclusion of Gen. Laws address,
after music, the Benediction was pronounced
by Rev. r. Latham, which closed the exercises
of the day.
At night ball was given and collation.
served at the garrison hy the Cadets of the
School, and thus ended the twenty-seyenth
of an educational institution grow
ing in usefulness with its age, and of which
our people may be proud as an honor to the
Stota