Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-08-29

energies found instant exercise in
another forum, whether his dex-
trous and diaci, ,,lined faculties are
now sontending i'll higher senate
than ours for supremacy, or
whether bis powers were dlssipated
and dispersed with his parting
breath-we do not know.
"Whether his passions, ambi-
tions, and affections still sway, at
tract, and impel, whether he yet
remembers US as we do him-we
do not know.
"These are the unsolved, the
insoluble problems Of mortal life
and human destiny, which
prompted the troubled patriarch
to ask that momsntous question
for which the centuries have given
no answer, IF a man die shall be
live. again?'
Every man is the centre of a
circle whose fatal circumference
he cannot pass. Within it's narrow
confines he is potential, beyond it
! he .perlshes; and if immortality
be a splendid but deluslve dream
even the longest and most iortu-
nate, be not supplemented and
perfected after It's termination
here, then he who, breads to die
should fear to live, for life is a
tragedy more desolate and mex
plicable than death.
"Of all the dead whose :obsequies
We have paused to solemnize in
this chamber / recall'no one whose
untimely fate seems solamentable
and yet 30 rich in prophecy of
eternal lie, as that of Senator
Hill. He had reached the meri-
dian Of his years. he stood upon
the high plateau of middle life, in
that serene atmosphere where
L . .
temptation no longer assails, where
the elamorous passions no more
distract, and where the conditions
are most favorable for more an d
enduring achievement. His up
ward path had been through
stormy adversity and contention
suoh as infrequently falls to the
lot of men. Though not without
the tendency to meditation. reverie,
and introspection which accom-
panies genius, his temperament
was palestine. He was competitive
and unpesceful. Ho was born a
polemic and controversalist, intel
lectually pugnacious and combat
i've, 30 that he was impelled to de-
fend any position that might be
assailed or to aItBck any position
that might be intrenched, not BE-
cause the defense or the assault
were essential. but because the
positions were maintained and
that those who held them became
by that fact alone his advsrsaries.
This tendency of his nature made
his orbit erratic. He was meteoric
rather than planetary, and flashed
with irregular splendor rather than
shone with steady and penetrating
rays. His advocacy of any cause
was fearless to the verge of temer-
ity. He appeared to be Indifferent
to applause or censure for their
own sake. He accepted intrepidilty
any conclusions that he reached
| without inquiring whether they
were politic or exped lent.
"To such q spirit partisanship
wss unavoidable, but with, Senator
Hill it did not degenerate into
bigotry. He was capable of broad
generosity and extended to his op-
ponents the same unreserved can
| dor which he demanded for him
self. His oratory was impetuous
and devoid of artlfice. He was not
la posturer nor phrasemonger. lie
was too intense, too earnest to en-
ploy the cheap and paltry decora-
tions of discourse. He never re-
connoitered a hostile position nor
approached it by stealthly paral-
lels. He could notlay siege to an
enemy, nor beleaguer him, nor
opan trenches. and sap and mine.
His method was the charge and
the onset. He was the Murat of
senatorial debate. Not many men
of this generation have been better
equipped for parliamentary war
fare than be, with his command
ing presence. his sinewy diction,
his confident and imperturbable
self-control.
"But in the maturity of lis pow.
ere and fame, with unmeasured op.
portunities for achievement ap.
parently before him.. him, with
great designs rnnccomplished,
surrounded by the proud and
affectionate solicitude of great
constituency. the pallid messenger
with the inverted torch beckoned
him to depart. There are few scenes
in history more tragic than that
protrasted combat with death. No