The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-10-18
BILL ARP'S LETTER
II
Barlow Man Makes Pathetic Ap-
APPEAL For Orphans Home,
TOUCHING STORY or AN EPIDEMIC
-
He MN Mother Was Bereft Of Her
Parents at the Tender Age Of
Seven, But Fortunately Fell
Into Loving Hands.
STORY OF An EPIDEMIC

old school boys have spoken his speech
III beautiful speech-in defense of
himself and companions for the Irish
rebellion, and their attempt to seize
the arsenal and the arms In Dublin and
set Ireland free. / wonder how many
OF the modern school boys ever heard
OF Emmett, one of the noblest, purest
and most eloquent patriots in all his.
tory. 1t took a smart boy, a gifted boy,
good, kind-hearted boy, to speak that
speech with feeling and pathos. Chan
HI could do 1t, and he was the only
OF Of our set who could make the
turkey bumps rise on our spines and
our hearts go pity-pat as he stretched
himself little higher and exclaimed:
LET no man write my epitaph. Until
Ireland is free, let not my epitaph be
written" He had been already tried
and convicted and when the stern old
chief justice asked him if he had any
thing to say why sentence of death
should not be pronounced, he made
Fpeech. The judge could not con-
lis emotion, and all the court was
Ars. Robert Emmett was a very
+ man. Although but % years old
dtShis death, he was the peer and COM
panion OF Curran, Grattan and Philips,
and the friend and college mate Of
Thomas Moore, the poet. When exc
cuted he was engaged to Curran's
daughter, the beautiful Sarah, and
Tom Moore has written a charming
poem about their sad and broken-heart-
ed d stiny. Had it not been for Sarah
. and love, Emmett would not have
been tried, for he and his fellow pa
triots, who were leaders Of the rebel
lion of 1898, had already escaped most
of them to America, but Emmett lin
gered for Sarah's sake and was ar
rested and tried for treason.
Among those rebels who escaped to
America was a young man named Ma
guire, who landed at Charleston and
settled there. He had some means,
and began business as linen meF-
chant, and prospered. Not long aftoT
this he married an orphan girl, the
daughter of a sea captain, and they
fived happily together. Two children
were born to them, James and Caro-
line. No children ever had more low
ing\parents, no parents ever had more
lovi BE- and lovely children, and for
years there was no foreboding of any
calamity or affection that could or
would befall them.
But now, as next Saturday, the 2Sth,
lis Orphans day, my nominations that
an with Robert Emmett have, with
design, brought my thoughts along
gHn to this Mcguire, who was one Of
his friends and compatriots. wish
to tell the young people a little story
about what happened to James and
Caroline. 1t may read like a romance,
but it is all fact. The story will fit
the day that is to come, the 18th, and
WI fit the orphans at the home, near
D tur, and those at Clinton, in South
C4Tolina, and those anywhere and ey-
erywhere, for it is fact that 10 per
cent of all the children under II years
of age are either fatherless or mother
less. Orphans are the wards of the
nation, and are as much entitled to
our care and maintenance as are the
blind and the deaf. Charity to help
less, friendless children is one thing
we CAN all agree upon. We may differ
In politics or religion, but charity is
a universal sentiment. The man who
loves his fellow men and sympathizes
with them in their distress is forgiven
for his faults, for charity hideth null
titude of sins. A man may gamble or
cheat or drink or lie, but if he is good
to the poor and friendless it balances
the scales 1t is a Dutch story that
Jacob Snyder kept a mill. When he
died and knocked at St. Peters gate
foR admission, the good saint said
Jacob, you did keep mill down in
the lower world, and you did some,
times take too much toll-thee cannot
come In" "Ah! goot saint, dot is
true" said Jacob, sometimes ven de
water vas low and de stones vas dull
did, take a little too much toll, but
always gave it to de poor" The good
saint }pondered and ruminated long
but finally said, Jacob, Jacob, will
let you in, but it do strain the gate"
IN, the summer of 1915 the yellow fe
vefsA that awful scourge, visited
Charleston, and in weeks time had
SVEN. the people away by thousands
It wa several days before the panic