The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-04-29
The Message Of a Sword.
On. c. Baptist

Sometimes the lifeless speaks and
bears an eloquent message. 1t may be
sentiment, it may be an indescrib-
able fascination or attraction that
gives voice to the inanimate, yet
sometimes it bears message sur
charged with a feeling which enrap-
lures the soul of men and brings mind
to be the willing servant of matter.
1t was but few days ago that we
saw an old sword, worn and rusty.
sheathed in its scabbard. yet it had
a tongue, and from its prison house
of steel it whispered into the anxious
ears of its owner and worshipper an
eloquent message that was sweet to
him and moved him as the wind swa[S
the yielding tree. He loved the sword
and kept it close by him as he jour
neyed on a railway train. and as he
told what it said to him, and the mes
sage it bore from the dying, his great
heart swelled and overfiOwed. Round
the story of this sword is woven the
heart strings of a noble family. It
was not blade fresh from its maker,
new and bright, but it had a history.
a history which is a glorious part of
the very life of the South. 1t was
wrought out in Richmond and It's
handle knew the hand of David
SPRINGFIELD as familiar and heroic
master. who bore It in many strug-
gle and held it high to his comrades
on many a battle field as rallyln9
signal for the charge. Over the his
of Virginia and across its battle-sWept
valleys this blade went many a time.
1t was in the hand of the hero by day.
and at night close by his side, while
the blue sky was spread out above
him as a sheltering canopy and the
shining stars stood guard over a
sleeping army. s
1t was at Gettysburg great
arena of death-that the sword flash
ed for the last time in the hand OF the
Confederate hero from the banks of
Moore's Creek, where in the long ago
patriots made glorious the soil by
mighty struggle and victory for the
right. Captain Struggled was leading
charge toward the flaming heights
when the messenger of death came.
He fell at the feet of his brother, who
was following his chavalrOus captain
into the Jaws of death. The wounded
man saw that death was nigh. and
handing his sword to his brother, who
was then a stranger to the mysteries
of grace. babe him, in a fast failing
whisper. follow the great Captain of
Nazareth and meet him as a victor in
the triumphant army of God. With
this message on his dying lips he left
the field of carnage and death to be-
come one of the great host of the re-
| deemed. who sing as an eternal bat
| tie cry 'All Hail the Power of Jesus
| Name" The weeping brother cau9ht
| up the fallen sword and from the fatal
! day of Gettysburg to his death, j. p.
| SPRINGFIELD heard from that sword the
! pleading message of the dying hero.
| He cherished it. He loved it. He gave
his heart to God and served him for
| thirty-five wears. He too has been
called up higher, and today the sword
is the most valued relic of the surviv-
! ing brother. O. l.. Struggled. who IS
| the hero of the Baptist Womanhood OF
| North Carolina. Fresh from the open
/ grave of his brother. he was bearing
| the sword % his home in Raleigh
when we saw it. He held it tenderly
| He looked at it lovingly, and when he
| spoke of it, its message and its histo-
~. his great soul overlooked its banks
and great tears fell fast on the floor
of the flying train. He would not
part with it. He told us that money
could not buy it, for it represented
to him the sweet friendship and hero
ism of his heavenly kin.
You may call it a sentiment if you
will. You may laugh at it as Il child
ish devotion, but there is a wealth of
! feeling and love in all this which
speaks of the love of God and the fell
| lowship of His Son.
That old sword, sheathed in its
| scabbard forever, coming down as Il
messenger from the greatest struggle
| of modern times, is more than cold