Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-01-16
Henry Grady.

while the plaudltS OF the nation, eleC-
trified by his last brilliant Grafton,
were ringing in his cars. He was yet
so young, so exubernnt IL energy and
hope, and with such illimitable po-
tcntiaiitics for yet larger service and
higher honors, that his sudden death
confounds us. Pierced by the shaft
of the Unsuitable archer, the eagle
falls to earth just when he seemed
to be taking higher flight. 1t is a
tragedy in whose shadow the nation
that'praycd and wcpt over Garfield
again joins i. g sacrament os sorrow.
What was there in Henry Grady
that gave him this hold on the hearts
of his countrymen? He was private
citizen. He had never filled an
office, fought battle, or written q
book. TO say that he was a genius
only answers our question in part
AS n writer and speaker he possessed
the magic touch that held and thrilled
his hearers and readers. He was
bold, original, brilliant, magnetic.
lie had something of the audacity of
Robert Toombs, the ringing rhetoric
of Ben Hill, and the indcscribable fe-
licity and glow Of George Pierce.
Each of these three great Georgians
doubtless helped to mold his charac-
ter, his opinions, and his style, and
not the least the great Bishop, whose
touch brought inspiration and bless
ing to SO many of his young country
men. Henry Grady possessed genius,
but this alone does not explain the
hold he had upon the popular heart.
1t was the use that he made of his
extraordinary gifts that makes the
grief and sense of loss so universal
and so intense.
lie was a born optimist. In his
blood and nerves, in every cell of his
brain, in every beat of his heart, in
every fiber of his body, he was All
optimist. lie came into active life
just when the South, rallying from
the shock of the awful cataclysm
that had struck her, was catching the
breath of the morning of it's new
day. He typed her new chivalry,
whose invincible fortitude, undying
hopcfulness, and audacious enterprise
rim this time of peace make them
worthy successors of tho old chivalry
that never told lie, nor stole dol
lar, nor showed its back to foe in
equal combat. Young Henry Grady
was the prophet of the new dispensa-
ton. There was cheerful conta-
gion in his presence and in what he
wrote and spoke. His newspaper,
the Constitution, reflected the man.
The reading of it was tonic to the
weak, a stimulus to tagging hope and
energy. When he spoke his people
yielded to the persuation, kindled
intoo responsive enthusiasm. and
moved with him in the forward
march.
lie must have been a genuine man
and a patriot. The glow that was in
his periods was not merely rhetorical.
When he talked of his native South
the throb of undying and tenderest
filial affection was felt in every musi-
cal syllable. When he spoke of the
negro race, while there was no eva
sion o. concealmcnt of the facts as
he saw them, his words reflected the
kindly and generous spirit of that
true South whose history has yet to
be written by some friendly hand,
and of which he might be taken as
the representative and exponent, both
in his opinions and character. When
he spoke Of the North, amid the
sparkle of his wit and his playful
pcrsiflagc there was a breadth of
thought and of sympathy, a hearty
recognition, of what was true and
good and great in that section, fer
vor of patriotic feeling, and flavor
of genuine nationality, that stamped
him as an American citizen whose
patriotism was as broad as the re-
public, and whose cloqucnce, winning
the plaudits of all sections alike, was
the cloquencc of the heart.
These two characteristics un-
4uenchablc hopcfulncss and his broad
philanthropy that embraced all classes
and all would have lifted
him above the dead level of his con-
tcmporarics even had he been less
richly endowed intellectually. When
the jewel of genius is found in such
a setting of character, the gem is of
incstimablc value.
| Greater achievements and higher
honors seemed to be within his reach.
| Sut ,,oinfu1 90 10 tbn ohooL of IL.