The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-12-19
TO THE YEAR 1889.

Dear Sir:-Yo gu will soon be corpse.
Your spirit will go either to purgatory
or to paradise. Ifin the former, let not
your wall come back on the evening |
winds to alright us for we are busy
with joy preparing to welcome your
successor. If in the latter, then strike |
a few melodious strains to keep COM |
pany with our Christmas merry-ma
king.
During your short stay with:us you
have seen many important events.
You have seen political corruption
override patriotic principles; you have
seen the horrors indescribable of fire
and flood; you have seen thousands of
loyal men gather with swelling hearts
to do honor to the memory of their
forefathers who declared against the
tyranny of England and, just as you
were about to go into the silent land
of the past, you knelt at the bier of
earth's noblest and best, chieftain of
ten thousand hearts, crowned with the
sunny southern blossoms from the soil
OF the land he loved and lost.
1t has been your sad misfortune to
see small intellect, named after its
grand father, Benjamin Harrison, aid
ed by blocks-of- five Dudley and a
goddess and constituencies buyer of
men-one Quay, unseat the greatest
and most honest patriot that has sat
| in the Presidents chair since it was
henored by the illustrious Washing
| ton.
You were there where tens of thou
sands gathered in New York city to
celebrate the centennial Of Washings
toms Inauguration and you could not
help mourning that this illustrious old
gentleman was to have Grandpa's
Hat in his celebration procession.
And if you are made of the right
kind of stuff, you rejoiced that no
southern lady participated in the
grand ball which was given by new
tribe which is called The Four Hun
bred"
You were present when tumult of
water swept hundreds of souls into a
quick eternity and left f air Johns
town wreck and ruin, peopled only
by dead mems bones, aud you were
there when the fre-demon licked up
the city Of Lynn and turned ten mil
lions of dollars to ashes ia a single
night.
You stood at the baptismal font
when four new states were christened
into the Union and you were at Fay
etteville, North Carolina, where thou
sands of the best people that Gods
sunshine ever smiled upon gathered to
celebrate the adoption of the federal
constitution by the people of the
grandest State in this indissoluble I'M
ion of states.
You smiled when the people of Bra
iii threw off the yoke of monarchial
tyranny and declared for that freedom
which only republic can give.
1t was only a few days ago, when
you too were beginning to feel the
closing grip of icy DEATH, that you
heard tens of thousands of people re-
| peat to each other the sad words "Jef-
ferson Davis is dead" and you saw their
sad faces as they gathered all over
this fair southland to pay loving
tribute to his memory. You heard
them say he was brave, that he was
noble. You heard them say that
though he was without country he
was still king of their loyal hearts, and
when you saw the long funeral cor
tege move slowly down the streets of
New Orleans, decorated by flowers
from every southern State and escor-
ed by several southern governors,
while flags hung at half mast and min
ute guns shook the affrighted air, you
| knew that earth's noblest was being
laid to rest and that during your
brief lifetime there lived and died
the grandest hero, patriot, statesman
and gentleman that our people shall
ever know.
Farewell, old year. We part with
you as friend who has kept us COM
pany and has shared both our joy and
woe. You have been kind to us, and
when the new years mantle of white
is spread over your grave we shall
think Of you with tenderness and
thank God that during your short
stay you brought US SO little of sorrow
and so much of gladness.
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