The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-11-01

SGOu6
In deathless song shall tell
When many vanquished grace has
flown,
The story how they fell.
Nor death, nor wreck, nor winters
blight
Nor Times remorseless doom
Can rob one ray of holy light
That gllds their glorious tomb
With my sincerest good wishes for
the success of the contemplated meet
ing, and my great regret that l cannot
participate in 1t, l am very truly, your
friend and fellow citizen,
WADE HAMPTON.
To Messrs. Jas. L. Sims, N. II. Bull,
Theo. Kohn, w. L. Izlar and Is. H.
Moss, Committee.
These sympathetic words from Gen.
Hampton elected great applause.
THE GRAFTON OF COL. ARMSTRONG.
At the conclusion of the reading OF
Gen. Hampton's letter Gen. Izlar in.
troduced with few kind words the
gallant and ever-ready Col. james
Armstrong, of Charleston. Thollgn
his Call was brief one he seemed thor ..
oughly prepared for the occasion and
male one of his Enthusiastically beau
t1ful, eloe uent orations. His word pic
lures were as charming as ever and his
tribute to the Confederate dead was as
handsomeand as touching as Is concelY
BILE. Col Armstrong; Grafton was heart
ily applauded. He spoke as follows:
Among the difficult duties ever as
signed to me there has been none near
so trying as that which l am today eX-
pected TO discharge. Great as Is the
disappointment at the unaVoldS5le ao-
sence of the lllus.rious and knlghtly
soldier whom you expected to address
you, it is equalled by the embarrass
ment l now experience IN at emptlug
to sprak in his stead. There is an elo-
uuence in the simple mention of the
name Wade Hampton. He is one of the
Central stars in The armament OF Caro-
llna's fame, in whose lustrous rays IL
seen patriotism the purest, courage
that has ueyer been eXcelled herolsn
high as the cause for which he so splen-
dldly fought Is molly.
1 did not stop to consider the respon-
siblliUy involvei in the r. quest OF your
worthy committee 20 address you. The
invitation 50 graclOusly extended three
days since and accepted With deep and
due sense of gratitude, confers an hon
which fills me with pride. Ii has aWak-
ened in my untutored breast emotions
so strong and profound that language
Is almost lost to me, and 1t Is with dlt-
ficulty | try to syllable words to express
my thoughts and feelings. The guod.
ness of yJur heart, the generosity OF
your nature will, I am confident, make
allowance for want of wisdom and de-
fects in delineation in my hastily pre-
pared, crudely constructed speech. 1
shall try to speak to you in the Ian
guage of the heart, heart which
Lhroobed with patriotic pride beneath
the grey jacket of Confederate SOL
dier, and upon which is indellbly
stamped the grand memories and glo.
rlous recollections which beautify and
ennoble and immortalize the cause to
uphold which the Orangeburg men and
of the other districts OF Carolina fought
as men seldom fought before. and IN
defence of which so many OF the braV-
Est and best of soldiers marched daunt-
lessly to death.
The childhood of most Of the survi-
vors present was passed amid rural
scenes, sheltered by the wide spreading
branches of old oaks, beneath which
many delightful tryst was held
many a tender word spoken, where
you first heard the whisper of moth
er's love, the breathiug of a mothers
prayer, where the leaves noiselessly fall
upon the hallowed ground beneath
which the bones of your ancestors have
crumbled into kindred dust. You i'm
bibed the love of freedom with your
earliest breath. 1t was waited to you
on the wings of the wind, the sweet
songs of birds were liberty's lyrics, the
fair fields with their wealth Of golden
grain sparkling in the sunlight like
serried spears instilled martial srdor In
your breasts, and when the call to arms
was sounded you were among the first
to rally at the post Of duty. You served
on the coast, you went to Virginia,
where you gave proof Of your unswerv-
ing fidelity and displayed that courage
which blaksd in one continuous chain
from Petersburg to Gettysburg.
You followed the fortune OF the Ar.
my of the West and wele at Shiloh,
Franklin, Missionary Ridge, Chicka-
maugs; you shared IN the glories of Sc.
cessiOnVille, Morris Island, SulliVan's
Island, grand old Sumter during the in
comparable defence of Charleston; you
fought at Fort Fisher, at Jonesboro at
Greensboro, where the last ray quiyered
on the dial of our nations doom.
Would that 1 were possessed OF the
force and felicity to express the stir
ring recollections, the tender and treas.
ured memories which ill our hearts to-
day, memories that the mutations OF
time have not dimmed, recollestlons
which sweep the inner chords OF the
heart and cause it to throb responsive
to the dearly remembered days OF the
storied past. The trials, the trophies,
the terrors of those four years are pres
ent to the mind and are as vivid as are
the scenes of yesterday. Yoursublime
heroism, your lonely vigils, tie hunger
and hardship which encompassed you,
the courage you displayed, the forti
tude ysu exhibited crowd thick and
fast upon us today. Ii my Voice falters
when I would speak of your comrades
who are absent, whom you miss and
mourn, who sank beneath the sea of
strife, what must be your feeling who
knew them from childhood and who
were joined to them by links of love.
The simple mention of their name Is
more eloquent than the greatest weal,n
of words "rhe Confederate Dead!"
How brief the sentence yet how SUB.
lime its siynlfcance. What a host of
hallowed memories it summons up
memories with which are interviewer
the sweetest and saddest emotions that