West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-08-31
IS ever faced death; faithful man !;

power. Such men 90 not use WcaP-
ons upon unarmed ASSISTANTS" The
audience stirred in their seats. The
speaker turned again to the jury. II
speak to men who reason. True
reasoning with such is as strong as
proof. A brave man who is full of
strength never draws a weapon to
repel a simple assault. The defen-
dant drew when he saw q glittering
knife in the hand Of his foe,-not
from fear, because he could have fed,
but to equalize the combat. He was
cool and calm; you know the result.
"Why do / say he is brave? Every
man on this jury shouldered his
musket during the war. Most of
you followed the lamented Pickett.
Some perhaps were at Gettysburg"
Two or three heads nodded assent.
II was there too" A murmur Of
applause ran round the room,-the
old mans war record was house
hold legion. 1t is even said that
the court joined in. 81, and the
only brother God ever gave me-"
The veteran bowed his head: his
voice sank to a whisper. "a part Of
him is there yet,"-his hand shook
slightly rs he moved his cane furth-
er on the desk, and rested upon the
Code,-"a part of him, but not all;
for, God be praised, we picked up
whatever remained of him and
brought it back to Georgia.
II well remember that fight. The
enemy stood brave and determined,
and met our charges with courage
and grit that could not be shaken.
Line after line melted away during
those days, and at last came Pickett's
charge. When that magnificent COM
mand went in, a negro man, an hum
BILE African, q captains body-servant,
stood behind it, shading his eyes
with his hand, waiting. You know
the result. Out of that vortex Of
flame and that storm Of lead and
iron a handful drifted back. From
one to another this man of black
skin ran, then turned and followed
in the track of the charge. On, on,
he went, under my very glass, for it
was my misfortune to stay behind;
on through the smoke and the flame;
gone one moment and in sight the
next; on up to the flaming cannon
themselves. Then there he bent and
lifted form from the ground. To
gether they fell and rose, and this
three times, until. meetlngthem half
way, l took the burden from the
hero and myself bore it on in safety.
That burden was the seDseless form
of nv brother,'-here he turned and
and walked rapidly to the prisoner,
his hand lifted on high, his voice
like a trumpet,-"gashed,
and bleeding, and mangled, but alive,
thank God And the man who bore
him out, who came to me with him
in his arms as a mother would carry
a sick child, himself shot with the
fragment of u shell until his great
heart was almost dropping from his
brcast.-that man, o my friends, sits
here under my hand See, if l
speak not the truth p He tore open
the prisoners shirt and laid bare
his breast, on which the silent splen-
dor of the afternoon sun streamed,
A great ragged seam marked it from
left to right, "Look ~ he cried,
"and bless the sight, for that scar
was won by slave in an hour that
tried the souls of freemen and put
to it's highest test the best manhood
of the South. No man who wins
such wounds can thrust knife into
an unarmed assailant. / have come
seventy miles in my old age TO say
it," gr.g 8 I f.aa
1t may have been contrary to the
evidence, but the jury, without leav
ing their seats, returned verdict OF
mot guilty" and the solicitor, who
bore scar on his own face, smiled
as he received it. iai slIe3 ~
"The prisoner" said the court,
rapping for order, sis discharged"
Eyes. sah," said Ben, rising and
flashing set of dazzling ivories at
the Judge. Il knowed hit uz all
right soon-es ] laid eyes--on Marse
Bob's ole gray head" 1Aeo
The evening shadows gathered
over Black ANGLE. A young woman
with baby at her breast sits, weary,
of eve and limb, under the spread
ing gum-tree by the spring. Slowly
the yellow rooster leads his followers
up the rail to the shed, and the lean
cow at the picket-gate lows for en-
trance. Suddenly out Of the valley
of the shadow-of death itself-a
man comes and rests his hand upon
the woman's head. Then the twi-
light deepens, and we see them no
more.
How Men Die.
II we know all the methods of ap-
proach adopted by an enemy we are
the better enabled to ward off the
danger and postpone the moment
when surrender becomes inevitable.
In many instances the inherent
strength of the BODY suffices to en-