The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-08-07
Barlow Philosopher Recalls Last
Words Of Great Men.
As FOR HIMSELF he ~STILL LIVES"
Last Remarks Of Danfsf Webster,
When on His Death Bed, I'M
presses William With
Great Force.

tnose or Daniel Webster always i'm
press me with peculiar force. On the
very confines Of eternity, on the brink
OF the everlasting change that he knew
was at hand, his great mind seemed to
be studying and waiting for the mo-
ment OF his departure-waiting and
watching for the separation of the
soul from the body, and wondering
how he would pass the crisis. There
was no fear, no dread, as he calmly
whispered, II still live" and immedi-
ately died. His body died, and what
was the next vision of his great soul
the world would like to know, but 1t is
forbidden. l thought of all this not
long ago as seemed to be drawing
near the end and approached the con-
fines Of that undiscovered country
from whose bourne no traveller re-
turns. l was serious and solemn with
expectation, but was not alarmed, for
my faith Is that my Maker will take
care of me and of all others who love
Him and try to do right. All that trou-
bled me was the separation from those
love and their grief at my departure
Two months is a long time to be a
child again without vital force enough
to walk alone. But have passed the
crisis, and though weak and nervous
am on the upgrade. and can walk
about the garden and carry the little
grandchild in my arms and give him
flowers and feast on his smiles and
caresses.
Well, that is enough on that line
You readers can find sermons and
prosy commentaries on sickness and
death on another page. "Carpe diem"
Let us enjoy the day and be thankful
that We still live. But to drop rever-
emily from the sublime to the ridicu-
lous, recall that when l was young q
number Of us were quoting the last
words Of great men such as Seneca
and Plato and Calvin and Luther, and
one said: We'll, you know what Dan
lei Webster said?" No. we did not re-
member and he replied "Why, he
opened his great big eyes and looked
at his friends who were weeping
around him and whispered, Boys,
don't cry; l am not dead yet"
Forty-one years ago last Sunday the
battle of Manassas was fought. 1t was
the first battle of the civil war and
made deeper impression upon those
engaged in it than any other. Com
pared with the great battles that came
after it. it was almost insignificant, for
there were only four hundred nd seven
ty federals killed and three hundred
and seventeen confederates. The
federal account gives sixteen hun
dred of their army as missing.
That is mistake, for by four
O'Clock they were all missing. Our cav
airy couldn't find them, though they
followed their trail of discarged guns
and haversacks for miles and miles.
There never was such rout and such
a panic during the war. We didn't
have enough wagons next day to gath
er up the scattered munitions of war,
and it took Mcdowell month to call
in his army of twenty-seven thousand
men and reorganize. But in the long
run they got even with us and little
ahead, and the Grand Army is still
Dragging how four Of them whipped
one Of us in four years. That's all
right. We are satisfied with our rec
ord, and 1t grows brighter as the years
roll on Ammo domini will tell. The
other day my doctor said l must take
some exercise and he took his mother
and me up the river road for few
miles to the ruins Of the Cooper iron
works. 1t was wild, weird, ghostly
place on the banks of the Etowah,
where once were rolling mills and
foundry and furnaces and -four mills
and tan yards and hundreds of cot
tages, where happy laborers and me-
chanics lived. But Sherman's army
burned and destroyed everything, and
since then most of the crumbling walls
have fallen and the trees have grown
up in their midst and wild vines have
climbed the trees and nothing is visi-
Bile but ruins and the sad spectacle of
a cruel and bitter war; But this is one
burning that, according to the rules
and usages of war, was justified, for
these iron works were making cannon
for the confederacy. 1t was the lone
some chimneys of the poor all along
his line of march that marked his bru-
tally and proved his assertion that
War is hell"
But no more Of this While viewing
these ruins my memory went back to
the time when Joe Brown was COVER
nor and ordered that 5000 pixies be
made with a spear point and side
blade curved downward like reap
hook and long handle in socket, SO
that our boys might take EN- coming
and going. If they didn't run we were
to Overtake 'em and and hook 'em
back. That's what old man Lewis told
me, and he was the master mechanic