The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-04-05

this manifestation OF your esteem, i
have said about all the occasion seems
5 to demand. and all that Is In my heart
to say. Thought is deeper than all
! speech; feeling. deeper than all
5 thought ! must leave unspoken the
thoughts and feelings which words
are too weak to bear. But this viii
: say-no momen; OF triumph and sue
cess ever brought me such citation Of
spirit and such a sense of victory as
that which comes to me in this hour.
No man can question the quality of
that friendship which gathers strength
from adversely and sheds its brightest
ray in the darkest hour.
81 will not pretend that defeat
brought me no sting of bitterness, no
pang of disappointment No man. Of
course. is the best judge in his own
cause but it had seemed to me that
had served the State with zeal ard |
/ fidelity. that had labored with an eve
single to the welfare of its people, |
that had been true to the principles
and had kept the faith of the Demo
cratic party, and when found myself
assailed with a rancor and bitterness
! could not explain, and for which
could find no justification in any act
of mine; and when 1t seemed that
had lost the esteem and confidence
Of the people, confess that it was
an experience for which I had to sum.
mon up all the fortitude of my nature
and all my powers of selfcontrol.
Friends in Defeat.
But when | saw the friends who
had stood by me in that contest rally I
ing around me with redoubled zeal S
and fervor, and when | saw that their a
disappointment was greater than e
mine, every trace of bitterness van /
ished from my heart, and | felt all c
the glow and pride of victory even 4
IN defeat. L
MY friends, if | have seemed to
bear adversely with light heart and =
a smiling face, it is because | havel
been sustained by your love and 10y .
atty, because you have taught me even e
@ bless the misfortune which reveals y
such depths and strength of fidelity =
If friendship. You have each and all y
)een to me as the friend that loveth
It all times, and as the brother that
S born for adversely.
my experience in politics has
my faith in human ma 60
ure | have not found that treachery -
nd ingratitude of which so many COM :.
lain. have, indeed, found those who !,
isappointed my expectations, but I ,ic
ould count on my two thumbs the 10
len whom | have taken to my heart 60
nd trusted and who have been faith no
ISIS to their trust I can almost say nv
nat from the beginning to the close IN,
I my public life have never lost a yo
lend
The Greater Service.
And my friends, you have done me
greater service than you know. No
an could have such friends without
cling fired with the purpose to de. sc
rive their confidence, to do no act
at might shake their faith in his N>
aracter. As stand before you to- ~
- ,,, -. fo nc +o,,,,ro i, ket
e Senate: ] would not for the high
t Office in the gift Of the people, lose
e place now hold in your esteem. "1'
III have helped to impress upon me 20
e lesson that a man who keeps faith ''i0
tn his own conscience, who pre- pu-
rves his self-respect, and keeps the
:. sn,a.s. 49, .x,,,,,h toto
err all the vicissitudes of life and ~"
et the scowl of fortune with serene a'
rit and erected brow. i"s
~ 49,. hout ;. go fort
of gratitude to my friends to hold '"e
!, thought or purpose of vengeance GU
inst any enemy, still less any feel ,oi
of resentment for those who hon. "s
ly preferred the claims and candi- VII"
" of another. My observation has n.y.
n that nothing SO surely destroys 30
elish for the finer pleasures of life trrao'
n the habit of brooding over ones eo''''
sonal wrongs, or nursing spirit u'e"
hatros oaoinst onv MON for orv this.
81. emf
Sc IF know my own heart, no en'
of mine has been prompted by any 'dl"e
ing of resentment or sense of per- ~
al wrong. But no man shall ever lor
that while my heart was void of ave
ice it was equally empty of graf MINIS
e, No man shall ever say, for se'i :
ance, that I stood quietly by and '''ole
lessed the ruthless sacrifice of a '"oiiS
,ful friend and lifted no hand nc"
INST the deed. ""iu'
Debt Of Love.