The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-08-11

OF which the people Of this county are
justly proud
For twenty years or more with few n
termi0Sions this county has yearly held III
Wadesboro 4 Confederate reunion, IN III
month Of August. Distinguished orators
and soldiers have at each recurring ami
yersary delivered an address on the oeea-
sion. Among them have been General
Ransom, General Carr and Judge Clark,
and today, worthy to rank with these
great men who have preceded HIM, Col.
". VI. Hammond, OF ThomasvllIe, Ga, W2s
the orator. He was introduced by Col
r. t. Bennett, who, among North Care
lima statesmen. is ia a class all BY himself
for originality, impresslveness and the use
OF English that l. at once perfect and odt-
side the beaten track. His manner i IN
pressive beyond description. 1t i sad
that during the war when he vas charging
the Yankees. Colonel Benefits commands
could be heard a mile and a half he mas
q voice that carries his message far, and
there is in it an element OF mpresslvenees
and power that makes one feel that he l.
in the presence OF d man Of giant mind.
In introducing the orator today, Colonel
Bennett SAID:
COL. BENEFITS INTRODUCTION.
North Ca~rolinians: l congratulate the
men and women OF Arson county upon
the auspices which greet this day. conse-
Grated II our hearts by the blood Of hosts,
BY vicarlous sufferings and rendered more
precious to patriots with each recurrence.
Orators, statesmen, high officials and
the editor OF a great newspaper lend their
presence to this occasion. and translate
their homage to the men who had the
build and stature to strive with and
conquer time.
But yesterday sixty-tWo cardinals met
il conclaye to name the successor OF Leo
Is. and thus preserve the continuity OF
the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church,
which John Dryden described as a milk
white mind that through eighteen centu-
rIes had been the best solace OF her chi
dren.
Our government rose and teil-tought
itself out of Observation-Disclosures the re-
sources of our civilization, laid age and
infancy under hostage.
Our leaders in that government are
immortal for all time without SUCCESSORS.
They have craven themselves upon the
eternal ages.
Tell me, thou Chronicler of the worlds
great deeds, if ever ~yanquished cause pre-
scented a parallel.
We deem ourselves happy in the pres
ence today Of a son Of Arson who was
born in easy call OF this spot sixty and
! clI q 30 aCro He rood limbs y-arA
shapen and grown here. Fortune drew
him to a sister State.
The son Of a leading citizen who pos
sessed great vigor Of mind and extraordi-
nary intelligence, he succeeded to the pol
tiles of his father ca disciple Of Calhoun
and the religion Of his mother.
mo man IN my knowledge could have
accomplished more than he IN the early
stages OF our war. He rendered the first
military company to our Governor IN 81,
and went to the front as lieutenant of
that mpa
He shared ITS fortunes and contributed
by his zeal. accomplishments, AMI energy
to its efficiency. Throughout the strug-
gle his manliness and courage were attest
ed by comrades and mentioned in dis
patches by his superiors.
In 1854 he was sent on a confidential
mission by our government.
H is an artist in the use of words,
and has a genius for their choice.
"Tennyson said of the Poet Virgil that
he. was 'wielder of the stateliest measure
ever moulded by the lips Of man.
"Simonides was the most famous man Of
the antique age in composing ~elegies.
He conceived and fashioned the in
scription upon the to Leonidas
and his 300 Spartans slain at Thermopylae
after the treachery of a Greek had piloted
the Persian to their rear and reverse.
1T is the most gravid and perfect Of
recorded time:
9 Stranger tell the L~acedaemonians we
lie here in obedience with their laws
9 From out their paviloned and unmarked
graves, our dead point our living to
the lesson of the day
Il hope yOur orator may be transported
by the fervor Of this occasion beyond his
purpose and his words prove a wall of
flame.
Il present the citizen soldier of North
Carolina and Georgia, Captain William
May Hammond, and bid him God speed
COL. HAMMOND's SPEECH.
The speech of Colonel Hammond was
upon a theme that Is as old as the Con
stltutlon, and it has formed the basis.
for every wise defense of the South that
has been made since 1866. But because
the theme was old it does not follow that
1t was treated by the speaker along any
old line. neither did he follow in beaten
tracks. He discussed the causes that
brought on the war with a directness and
c~learness and ability that Indicated that
he was master of the principles enunciated
III a long series OF debates and State pa
pers that have presented the Southern side
OF the contention. Without a dull SEN
tence, without any commonplace express
slons, Col. Hammond made clear to the
youngest mind that the Confederate sol
der who donned the grey in 1861 did not
do 50 without having just cause. He pre-
coded his speech with 4 brief and appro-
pirate alluslon to the fact that the county
OF Arson was the place of his birth, and
he RECALLED Incidents In his early career in