The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-11-02
"And you granite minstreI's voiceless

The story how they fell.
Nor death, nor wreck, nor winters
Nor Times remOrselesS doom
Gan rob one ray of holy light
That gllds their glorious tomb
With my SincPreSt good wishes for
the success of the contemplated meet
Ing, and my grpa' regret that | cannot
participate in it, | am very truly, your
friend and fellow citizen,
WADE HAMPTON.
TO MeSsrs. j as. l.. SINS, y. II Boil,
Theo. kOhn, W. l.. lzIaT anG j. II.
Moss, Committee.
These sympathetic words from G. N.
Hampton elected great applause.
TIE OKATION or COZ. ARMSTRONG.
At the conclusion of the reading of
Gen. iIamptonS letter Gen. IZlar in.
trOduCei with few kind WUlds the
gallant ana eIrr-ready Col. Jams s
Armstrong, Of Charleston. Though
his C,tli W,.3 :! brlci oIe he seemed thor
oughly prepared tor the occasion and
malr enc 0I his Enthusiastically beau.
tlfui, clCIIent OratiOnS. His Word pic.
lures were as charming rs ever and his
tribute to the Confederate dead was as
hancaDmraDd as tOu&hng aS is ConceiY
bic. CO! Armstrong; 5 Grafton WAS heart
il, UpE.uuuId. lie poke as follows:
Among TIE ,l!li:uit duties ever as
signed e. IuC there has been none neir
50 toying rs that Ahlch am today ey
prC'ru 10 discharge. Great as Is si
d"ArpOIttmenl at the unavoidable ab-
SthCt al the liluS!rlouS and knigntly
S"!d!tr when you expected to address
SJU, 1t Is tIuallei by the embarrass
! i'HL NDr' lXDPrielCo III attempting
| - speak III MS stead. There is an e!o-
| QuviiCr III the simple mention of the
nHEr Wade Hampton. lie is one Of the
central S,nrs III the armament of Caro-.
lma$ fame, in whose luStrous rays il
seen Patriotism the purest, 4 courage
ti;tt has never been eXcelled a heroisn
man rs the cause for which he so Splcn-
didly fought is holy.
dId not stop to consider the respOn-
sihllIty involved in the request of your
worthy committee to address you. The
Invitation SC graclously extended three
days since @nd accepted with a deep and
que SENSE OF gratitude, confers an hon
Which nils me with pride. 1t has aWak-
encd in my untutored breast emotions
50 strong and profound that language
Is almost lost to me, and it is with diff
ilcuity / try to syllable words to express
my th0ughtsan feelings. The good.
IeHS OF your heart, the generosity Of
your nature will, L am confident, make
allowance for want of wisdom and de
tcc.S III delineatiOn in my hastily pre-
pared, crudely constructed speech,
shall try to speak to you in the Ian
guAge of the heart, a heart which
Ihronhed with patriotic pride beneatn
the grey jacket of Il Cont, dCrate sol.
dler, and upon which is inGelbly
stamped the grand memories and glo.
riouS recoilectiOns which bpautify and
ennOole and immOrlaliZe the cause to
uphold " hich the Orangeburg .men and
OF the other districts of Carolina fought
as nrn seldom fought before AMI IN
defence OF which 80 many Of the BRAY
rSt and best of soldiers marched dtllut-
lesSiy 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 wn.,it
many delightful t:."t was hclG
n,aov :. ,.utr word spoken, where
you first heard the Whisper of Il moth
rr's love, the brrathiug Of Il molher's
prayer, where the leaves uOiSrlpSsly fail
upon the halloWed ground beneath
"hlch the bones of your ancestors hAve
Crumbled into kindred dust. You I'M.
hlhrd the love Of freedom with your
earliest breath. II Was waited to yO,,
on the wings OF the wind, the sweet
songs OF ofdS were lIbrrty'S lyrics, the
tar fields with their wealth OF golden
grain sparkling in the sunlight like
SerrI"d spears inStiIled martial hrdor 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 gavo proof of your uns VERY.
ing fidelity and displayed that courag"
which bla2rd in one continuous chaiu
from Petersburg to GettVShurg.
You followed the fortune OF the Nr.
my of the West aud Wrleat Snil0h,
Franklin, Missionary Ridge, Chl2ka,
mauga; you shared IN the giurics OF 81.
CeSSiOnVillr, Morris Island .IulliVtn's |
Island, grand old Sumter during the in |
comparable defence of CharIpS;0 on; you |
fought at Fort Fisher, at Joncshuro at |
Greensboro where the last ray Wlivcred |
on the dial Of our natiOu's doom. |
Would that | were POSSESSED of the |
force and felicity to express the stir
rlng recOllpCtlOnS, the teudrr and treas
ured memories which fill our hearts to-
day, memories that tho mutations of
time have not dimmcd, rec0lleStlOnS
heart and cause 1t TO thrOb responsive
to the dearly remembered days OF the
'torled past. The trials, the trophies,
he tc!rOrs OF those tour years are pres
mt to the mind and are as vivid as are
he scenes of yesterday. GourSublime
IcrOism, your lo"rly vigils, tie hunger
nj hardship which encOmpassed you, ;
he courage you displayed, the fOrti
Ilde y)u exhibited crowd thick and ;
Ast upon us today. Ii my voice faltcrs l
hen | would speak Of your comrades
mo are absent, whom you miss and
lOurn, who sank beneath the sea of {
rife, what must be your feeling who [
new them from childhood and who {
ere Joined to them by links of love.
The simple mention Of their name is :
lore eloquent than the greatest wealth |
{ words "Ihe Confederate Dead!"
low brief the sentence yet how sub. J
me its iynilicance. What a host Of
memories 1t summons up d
lemorieS with which are interviewer {
lc sweetest and saddest emotions that !
YER thrilled the human heart They d
ere our comrades; we shared with l
lem the fatigueS of the march, the t