Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-09-21
LOVE OF THE Old AND NEW.
n Interesting Letter Written by
Judge William Doyle.

Judge William Doyle, who recently
visited in Oconee, just prior to his
return to his Texas home, will prove
of interest to his many friends OF
the olden days and to those younger
ones whose good fortune it was to
meet him during his short stay
among the people OF his old home.
The letter was handed to us by Capt.
r s. IS. DeDdy. Judge Doyle Is now
residing a. Mexia, Texas. He has
for some time held with honor to
himself and to his adopted and ma
tive States a seat on the bench in
the courts Of Texas:
Judge DoyIc'S letter.
EEter an absence OF forty-three
&5Ks as a citizen | have returned to
the scenes OF my childhood, breath
ing the poetic prayer Of
Back ward, turn backward, oh Time,
in your flight,
And make me a child again lust for
the night"
And can now close my eyes in
meditation and see and hear, as it
were, as | saw and heard a half CEN
tury ago. ! can see the fishing holes
in Toxaway, in Chauga, in Conneross
and in Richland, and the swimming
holes in the limpid Tugaloo; where
the Red man OF the forest-whO, in
his childlike simplicity could see his
god In the clouds and hear him in
the winds-once bathed and viewed
his many form. | can see the ne
groes, the, happy wards Of the best
civilization this world ever saw, as
they start out at early morning to
their daily toll and hear the loud
echoes OF their field songs; | can see
the happy, light-hearted children as
they go to their wontcd play, while
all about the house IS order and bus
mess; can see those field hands en-
ioying their rest, giving siesta in the
dense shade Of the spreading oaks
after hearty meal at the noontide
The evening shades announce their
return, and the distant lowing of the
COWS declare their coming as they
&aZily step to the tintinnabulations
Of the long-used bell. The chores
about the house and lot are soon
done, and after supper ] can hear
the old plantation songs at the negro
cabins, accompanied by the loud
"pmnk, PUNK" OF the banjo and tho
sweet notes Of the fiddle, answered
by the shrill familiar pcals Of the
whippoorwill and harsh, luguhrious
song Of the scrcrch owl, whose soft
plumage is famed by tho gentle
zephyrs as he pcrches on a swaying
limb in the pale moonbeams' mystic
light. And during the presentation
OF his wonderful medley can see the
old black nanny preparing the lit
tie tots for bed as they nod and bend
to the lovely thoughts OF
Come, sister, come, and kiss nc
goodnight;
| nupniD ,o:I
I'm tired now, and sleepy. TOO
Come, put me in my little bed
And ere they can complete the lit
tie Nov | lay me down to sleep" ;"
laden with the leaden chains Of Nor
pheus, they pass to the regions of
Drcamlands blissful rcposc, and to
them the world, with all its childish
hopes and JOYS, is as silent as the
dcad-as dark as If God never had
said Let there be light"
AT OcOnee Station, on the eastern
slope OF the Blue Ridge mountains,
where the first rays OF the morning
sun kiss in beauty the towering oaks
on the mountain tops, | first saw the
light OF this old world; and having
been raised up as strictly an old
school Presbyterian as Paul was Il
PhariSce, perhaps my first religious
duty was to learn that same little
Now ! lay me down to Sleep" and
later on 'Our Father which art i'm
heaven while the day, perhaps. had
been spent with my twin mate at Old
Pickens Court House catching Mr..
Harris ducks and throwing them in
an old abandoned we'll, whose old
oaken bucket had long been gone
an, how plainly can now hear thcir
distressing cries and the peculiar
Whlr or their wings. growing weaker
2nd weaker as they descend in the
,Darkness to the wotcr some sixty or
seventy feet below.
From Pickcns Court House | went
to Fort Madison, where | roamcd in
freedom over hill and dale for six
or seven years; then two years on
the plains OF Bounty Land, where the
love OF friendships were formed, a
Few Of which last 20 this good day;
thence ] returned to the beautiful
vale OF the Tngaloo. where | remain
ed till called to arms in 1864. As a
soldier in that immortal army com
manded by man named Lee | did
NY duty as best | could, suffering
S4R3 six long months all the horrors
&E2 Il Northern dungeon. For having
been soldier in that mighty army
nave no regrets to suffer of apologies
to OFFER. The memories Of the Lost
Cause are swcetly dear TO me- And
| have tried to teach my children to
understand and love that cause. and
to continue to teach them that les
son shall be my theme while | live,
and would to God that angels make
1t my requiem when ! lay me down
to die. And ] tell my children also
that when they have raised stone to
mark my resting place, where | am
10 await the resurrection morning,