Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-13

Friends and Comrades, find 1t al.
most impossible to give speech to the
thoughts that fill my heart as look
down upon this enormous audience,
and recognize the fact that may ad-
dress them as my friends and my COM
rades. have not before in all my life
been so honored as upon this occasion.
I have never before had so many ex-
pectant eyes raised to my countenance,
or seen such pleasant smiles Of well
come beaming from so many thousand
friendly faces.
I thank you, ladies of the Winnie
Davis Chapter, for giving me the op-
portunity Of enjoying for once in my
life this rare, this unspeakable pleas
ure.
AS came into your town this morn
ing, and looked at these beautiful trees,
glinting in the sunlight: as looked
upon your streets shaded and cut off
from the sun and from the wind, as
took into my lungs that delicious air
which God seems to have sent in an
especial quality to this town of York.
ville could not but remember the first
time my eyes fell upon the lfneamerts
of this community. A young lad, clad
in the uniform adopted by the state Of
South Carolina, with my comrades,
from the Citadel academy, we trudged
into this town, through the streets, in
the. beautiful spring time of the year.
trees of beautiful foliage, and the
smiles Of your women so captivated our
hearts that 1t was found difficult to
nake US continue our march to other
towns in the state. So deep an i'm
preston was produced upon me and my
classmate, Micah Jenkins, (applause]
that when we determined to adopt the
teachers profession for the benefit of
our alma mater, and the benefit Of the
sons Of South Carolina, with single
thought we pitched upon this beautiful
town of Yorkvilie. in which to make our
venture. For thirty-five years 1t was
my good fortune to live among you as
one Of you, and let me now In the de-
perience of thirty-five years, say to
all the world and to you, face to face
that never through that period Of time
rave I ever regretted that we had cast
our lots in this beautiful town, in this
noble community. [Applause].
But, speaking Of the spring time
carries me back, my friends, to another
spring. Then martial music filled the
air as 1t did this morning. Then bright
Uniforms were seen upon our streets
and the echo Of soldierly step was
heard upon our sidewalks. There was
however, something more than, the
rere display Of words. Behind that
display, there was evidently serious
thought agitating the minds Of all our
citizens from every portion Of this
county. The land was astir. Spring
had brought its new emotions. Among
them came that startling thought that
South Carolina now called her sons
to the front, and that York county had
still ren to succeed the heroes OF
Kings Mountain. With this one grand
| impulse, this old county reused her
self. and her sons were seen pressing
in from every quarter to be among the
| first to strike a blow in her behalf
Such premonitions had occurred year
before that the organization Of mil
| itary company followed; and now
crisis had been reached that necessar-
| lily would soon call for military
strength. And I remember, and how
can I tell you the pride I felt when
saw in that procession this morning q
| flag which I had the honor to place ir
my comrades, General Micah Jenkins
hands in the name Of the Yorkville
Female college, and to give him the wei
wishes and the prayers Of the women
of York. They have preserved this
old banner, and shall I ever forget
when Jenkins, thrilling in every fiber
of his being, said to me In response
to the address I made him, "Tell those
dear young women who have put this
banner into our hands that should red
handed war demand the sacrifice there
Is not one member Of the Jasper Light
Infantry that will not vindicate our
promise" I shall insult you by pre-
Stunning you need to be told how well
they have vindicated that promise.
There are some few surviving still
among them, and they are the witness
es Of what was done. [Cheers].
But that spring time was followed by
other spring tides. Your young men
and some of your old men and indeed
some of your very boys were called for
and went to the front in the next sue
ceeding four years. Spring time
came to them as 1t came to you. But
alas, spring time to them meant new
marches to make, new battles to fight
new graves to he opened far, far away
from home. To you who did not 60
or rather 7 would say, because most OF
you have come upon this scene since
| to those who did not go, the dear wo-
nen of our land. the spring time
brought its flowers too, but 1t brought
only the means with which to deck ir
memory at least, their fallen loved
ones far away from home.
But I will not attempt on this oc-
casion, my friends, to describe the
| march Of the soldiers belonging to the
Confederate army, their experiences
and their misfortunes. We spoke OF
them as you did at home. as soldiers
but we. those Of US in the front, fight
| ing the battles Of our state and coun-
| try, were not the only heroes IN the
lcause-we who were at the front ar
ter the glamor Of battle was over
Before our faces we had our foemen
before US. We had something to do
and If we won victory. we had the
glory Of being present with 1t and real
izing the full satisfaction that always
comes from victory. But alas, those
at home heard only Of the wounds and
felt not that spirit that is thrilled
with action in time Of war, but only
the dread Of apprehension that the
next news must tell them that the wife
has been widowed Of husband, that
a mother has lost her. son, that a girl
has lost a dear one upon whom she
had planted the wealth Of her affec-
tion. The true heroism Of that Con-
federate war was not confined to those
who marched under Lee and Jackson
and Johnson and other noble leaders
The deepest, the firmest, the noblest
and grandest heroism was among the
dear women who. left at home. kept
only a smile or cheering word for
our return. There was the heroism of
that war. [Applause].
But. my friends, another spring came
on. We had won in the field victory
after victory. The Confederate army
was worn down literally to the earth.
We had fought out all Of our strength,
and the time had come for us to cease.
We slowly turned our faces homeward.