The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-06-11


Which their rations were big slices of
1othlng, and their ears have never been
alert since tho cannOnade III which thew
heard so much they have been able to
hear but little since-in these cases |
call upon the people of north and
south TO substitute little ante
nortem praise for the good deal of
pest-mortem eulogium. These two
garlauds that twisted for north.
ern an southern graves shall not be mt
upon the grass Of the tomb until thew
nave flrst enclrcled the foreheads of the |
living. l will let the front Of the wreath |
come down over the scar Of a scalp |
wound made by the sword of il cavalry
man at Atlanta. and droop Il little over
the eye that lost is lustcr in the mine
explosion at Petersburg. IIuzza for the
living! Gala lilies and camellias and
and palm branches for the
living.
THE DEAD KNOW.
But we must not dctain the two gar
lands any longer from the pillows of
those who Tor Il quarter Ola century
nave been prostrate in ,lrcamless slum-
ber. never oppressed by summer sheat
or chilled by winters cold. Both yar-
lands are fragrant. Both have in them
the sunshine and the shower of this
sprinStime. The colors of both were
mixed by him who mixed the blue of the
sky, and the gold of the sunset, and
the green of the grass, and the whitcncss
OF the snow crystal. And do not care
which you put over the northern grave
and which over the southern grave.
~ =,
None Of them will know it. Your De-
coraton Days both sides Mason and
DlXon's line arc Il great waste of llow-
crs." All! | see You have carried too
lar my idea that praise for the living is
better than praise for the departed.
Who says that the dead do not know
OF the flowers? think they do. The
dead are not dead. The body sleeps but
the soul lives and is mhin,crcd. No
two cities on earth arc in such rapid and
constant communication as earth and
heaven, and the two great Decoration
Days ol'nOrth and south are better known
in realms celestial than terrestrial.
with what interest we visit the pace of
our birth and Of our boy hood or girlhood
days! And have the departed no inter-
rest III this world where they were born
and ransomcd, and where they suffered
and triumphcd: My Bible does not
positively say so, nor does my catcchism
teach 1t. but my common sense declares
1T. The departed do know, and the
banncrcd procession that marched the
earth yesterday to Onorthern graves, and
the banncrcd procession that marched
a month ago to southern graves. were
accompanied by two grander though in
visible professions that walked the air
professions of the assembled, professions
OF the martyrcd, PROFESSIONS OF the
sutherland they heard the anthems of
the churches, and the salvo of the bat
tcrcs, and they stopped down TO
breathe the incense Of the flowers.
These august thrOnws g,thercd this
morning in these pcws and aislcs and
corridors and galleries arc INSIGNIFICANT
compared with the miyhticr thron g of
heaven who miuylc III this service which
we render to God and our country while
we twist the two garlands. Hail spirits
multitudinOus! Hail spirits blest! Hail
martyrGd ones comes down from the
Kings palaces! How glad are we that
YOU have come back again! Take this
kiss Of welcome and these garlands of
Renaissance, yc who languishcd in hos
pitfalls or went down under the thun dcrs
and the lightnings of Fredericksburg and
Cold lIarbOr and Murlrcesboro and
Corvlnth and Yorktown and above the
clouds on Lookout Mountain.
y UNIQUE SERVICE.
Among the thousands Of gatherings
at the north and at the south for Deco
ra: ION Days | am conscious that this SER
vice is unique, and that 1t is the only one
in which there has been twisted two par-
lands. one for the grave of the northern
dead and the other for the crave of the
southern dead. O Lord God OF the Amer
lean Union, is 1t time that we bury for
ever our old grudgcs? My! My! Can
we not be at peace on earth when this
moment i'll heaven dwell, IN perfect love,
Ulysses :. Grant and Robert T.. Lee,
William Il. Sherman and Storcwall Jack
son, and tens Of thousands OF northern
and southern men who, though they
once looked askancc at each other from
the opposite banks Of the Potomac and
the ChickahOmlny and the James and
The Tennessee, now arc On the same
side OF the river, keeping jubilee with
some of those old angels who near nine
Leen centuries ago came down one Christ
mas night to chant over Bethlehem,
''Glory to God In the highest; on carlh |
peace. good will to men!'
| have been waiting for some years
or some one else to twist the two gar
ands that | today twist, but, no one do.
nS 1t, III the love Of God and my cOun-
ry put now my hand to the work, and
lext spring about this time, If am liv-
ng and well, | will twist two more gar
ands tor northern and southern graves,
md every sprngtlme until some man or
yoman whom | may have chccrcd lit
lie IN the struggle Of this life shall come
'ut and put pansy or two on my own
,rave. But il the time should ever come
when this land shall be given over to
sectional rancor and dcmagogism, and
lorth and south, or cast and west shall
orSct what the good God built this IT.
ion Tor, and it shall halt on its high ca
ecr of righteousness and liberty and
>cace, and become the agent of tyranny
md wrong and oppression, then let some
'oung man whom | have baptized in