Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-11-15

4 anu DlrQS " (ne dlO not say anil
s|mals, as most orators would, showing
This nice. instructive use Of language)
Lied by the lion and the tiger, the
beasts gained the upper hand and the
|bat came out Of his cave and hoped
around like a mouse, claiming kin
ship with the beasts. BY and by the
eagle, the condor and other powerful
birds Joined the fray and sent the
beasts flying, and the bat began to fly
around with the birds; but the birds
would have none of him and ran him
back to his caves, where he still
|abides. These repentant Republicans,
General Butler said, were nothing
but bats. We wanted none of them.
This swept the crowd.
Whether General Butler could
have maintained himself in these
frenzied mobs of lunatics, which as
semble these days, may be doubted.
He was gentleman, with gentle
mans instructive loathing for vulgar
ity, obscenity and filth. In his youth
and all during 1876 white men were
gentlemen-at least gentlemen pre-
dominated, whereas now gentlemen
are so scarce at these gatherings as
to be not worth reckoning.
But he filled the need of his time.
His voice was strong, mellow and
powerful. His presence, with it's
background of military distinction
and dauntless courage, was a mighty
coadjutor to the eloquence of his
words.
During the many delightful con-
ferences at his home in Barnwell, in
1891, where almost nightly Col. Rob-
ert Aldrich and myself foregathered,
he told me that General Butler was
the logical man to run for governor
in 1892, stood the best chance Of
election, although he doubted if he
could be elected. eff Butler does not
run, he will walk the plank next time
any how; but if he runs, he will gain
a powerful following and may retain
his seat in the senate" Wise and
prophetic words by the wisest politi-
cal philosopher of the generation, al
belt a failure in practical politics. 1t
it best, I think, to leave alone this
question right now. 1t can add moth
ing to the estimate of General But
Ter. He made a grave political mis-
take in attempting to win over men,
whose help would have amounted to
nothing if he said it, and lost there
by the friends of lifetime.
Seldom indeed does any man pos
sess power to grasp a changing po-
litical situation, when he is absent
from the scene. 1t is an old story in
political annals.
Instead it will be better to look at
another side Of his character. When
I was making a fight to save the birds
| of the state and trying to educate
our people to the value of them, Gen
eral Butler gave serious attention to
the subject. He would be the last
man one would expect attention from
on such subject. He knew nothing
of natural history. His life had been
away from it; and there was, as there
still is, a large body of eminent
South Carolinians whose minds can
not focus on anything smaller than a
horse. Yet Gen. NJ. C. Butler, cava-
lier of cavaliers, representing a
| type that was the wonder and envy
of the lesser fry, accumulated all the
information he could, wrote me Of
ten for more and ended by writing to
farmers all over Edgefeld county,
asking them to come to the court
house and hear me explain the value
of birds. l went. He introduced me.
That was in the summer of 1908, the
late summer. After I had spoken, he
took up the salient points and drove
them home in magnificent way,
then thanked me for coming
haps his last public speech.
That afternoon, standing by him
at the station, we had long chat.
When the whistle blew, he grasped
my hand-he could make the blood
run through your veins like wine
and looked me in the eyes. That was
my last sight of Matthew Calbraith
Butler, most brilliant Of all South
Carolina cavaliers since William
n5...1L: .,a1- ;,+o op ,,n1,r o,.yy,