[141]
Editorial Paragraphs.
our February and March numbers are combined under one cover for the convenience of the Secretary, who expects to be absent from his office from the 19th of February until the 16th of March, but we are sure our readers will not object as they get their full quota of pages, and a number of great variety and interest. renewals have been coming in quite briskly, but a large number of our subscribers have forgotten this important matter and we beg them to attend to it at once. We are running our Papers on a cash basis, and as we are paying cash for our printing, etc., we need the renewals of all of our subscribers. New subscriptions have been coming in in most gratifying numbers, and our subscription list is steadily increasing, but we can find room for many more, and hope that our friends will not cease their efforts to extend our circulation. ‘the Tennessee soldiers' Association’ is an organization which has its headquarters in Nashville, and is composed of ‘the soldiers of Tennessee in all of the wars,’ its object being to have prepared a history of the soldiery of the ‘Volunteer State,’ with a Roster of all living Tennessee soldiers. They have happily chosen as their historian, Dr. J. B. Lindsley, whose untiring research and facile pen will doubtless perform in the most satisfactory manner, the task assigned him. The following are the officers of the Association: President, Colonel John A. Fite, Carthage; First Vice-President, Captain J. T. Martin, Nashville; Second Vice-President, Captain W. Ledgerwood, Knoxville; Third Vice-President, Captain Albert T. McNeal, Bolivar; Fourth Vice-President, Private Rhum Payne, Knoxville; Fifth Vice-President, Captain Jno. W. Morton, Nashville; Sixth Vice-President, Colonel C. R. Rurteau, Memphis; Secretary, Captain S. W. Steele, Nashville; Corresponding Secretary, Major John S. Bransford, Nashville; Treasurer, Colonel Jno. P. Maguire, Nashville. At a recent meeting of their Executive Committee to confer with our General Agent for Tennessee, and Kentucky (Colonel H. D. Capers), Captain Robt. A. Cox offered the folllowing, which was unanimously adopted:Whereas, the ‘Tennessee Soldiers’ Association have become aware of the presence at Nashville of Colonel Henry D. Capers, General Agent of the “Southern Historical Soeiety,” an institution whose labor for the past ten years has resulted in the proper presentation to the impartial world of the record made by the people of the Southern States during their struggle for independence, it is therefore Resolved, That this Association extend to Colonel Capers, as the representative [142] of the Southern Historical Society, a cordial welcome to Nashville and to Tennessee. That we heartily sympathize with the noble mission which has enlisted his sympathies, and will aid him to extend the work and the influence of his Society among our people. That after years of trial we express our hearty congratulations to the board of management and to the editor, upon the character of the “Histori-Cal Society Papers,” which we regard as an impartial and a truthful record. We heartily commend these “Papers” to all who desire the preservation of the facts of our history during the war. That we invite the Southern Historical Society to hold its next annual meeting in Nashville, and assure our comrades of a cordial greeting.We heartily thank the Association for their kind interest in our work, and assure them that we highly appreciate, and warmly reciprocate their words of encouragement. We hail all such organizations as co-workers in a common cause, and bid them God-speed in their efforts. General Fitzhugh Lee (accompanied by the Secretary) expects to start on the 19th of this month (February) on his second lecturing tour in behalf of the Southern Historical Society. The programme of lectures as now arranged is as follows: Knoxville, February 20th; Montgomery, February 22d; Mobile, February 23d; New Orleans, February 26th; Houston, Texas, February 28th; Galveston, March 1st; San Antonio, March 3d; Austin, March 5th; Waco March 6th; Corsicana, March 7th; Dallas, March 8th; Forth Worth, March 9th; Sherman, March 10th; Little Rock, March 12th; Memphis, March 13th; Nashville, March 14th. Not a dollar of the proceeds of these lectures will be used for current expenses, but the whole will be passed to the credit of our ‘Permanent Fund,’ so that our friends may feel assured that in greeting General Lee with large audiences, they will be at the same time honoring a noble son of an illustrious house, enjoying a really magnificent lecture, and aiding in placing on a permanent basis a society which is laboring to vindicate the name and fame of our Confederate cause and people. Rev. Hugh L. Mageveney's lecture in Baltimore for the benefit of our Society, turned out to be a splendid success in every sense of the word. The eloquent lecturer thrilled and delighted the large audience who heard him, and as the result we received a check for $500, (which we at once passed to the credit of our ‘Permanent Fund,’) and have an intimation of ‘a fragment more’ to come. We tender our hearty thanks to the distinguished lecturer, and to the committee of the Confederate Society of Maryland, (General Bradley T. Johnson, Chairman, General I. R. Trimble, Winfield Peters, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, R. M. Blundon, Secretary, Colonel J. Lyle Clarke, Wm. P. Zollinger, R. W. Gwathmey, Dr. Wm. H. Cole, M. O. Shriver), by whose efficient work this splendid success was achieved. [143] the annual Reunion and banquet of the ‘Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in Maryland,’ will take place on the evening of the 22nd of February, and will be preceded by a lecture before the ‘Maryland Line,’ by General J. A. Early, on ‘Stonewall Jackson's Campaign against Pope.’ We acknowledge the courtesy of invitations to attend the lecture and banquet, and very much regret that our Southern tour will compel us to forego our full purpose of being present. We hope, however, that we shall have the privilege of publishing General Early's paper, which will, doubtless, be an able and valuable discussion of that splendid campaign. the Louisiana division of the Army of Northern Virginia held its annual Reunion and Banquet in New Orleans on the 22nd of January. It seems to have been, as usual, a brilliant affair, and we deeply regretted our inability to accept a kind invitation to be present. the Sesqui-Centennial celebration of the settlement of Georgia was appropriately celebrated in Savannah on the 12th of February. The military display of over 5,000 soldiers, the address of Governor A. H. Stephens, the Sesqui-Centennial ode of Paul H. Hayne (recited by General Henry R. Jackson), the historical pageant, representing the landing of Oglethrope and his colonists, the pyrotechnic display at night, the trades parade on the 13th, the immense crowd of people, and other interesting features, seem to have made the celebration a grand success. We deeply regretted that we could not accept a highly appreciated invitation to be present. in the death of Rev. Dr. (General) W. N. Pendleton, at his home in Lexington, Va., on the evening of January 15th, there has ‘passed away’ another of our prominent Confederate leaders. As classmate of General R. E. Lee at West Point, his Chief of Artillery during the war, and his Pastor during his residence in Lexington, General Pendleton was closely connected with our great chieftain in life, and now sleeps well, hard by his grave, while the spirits of the two soldiers, who were faithful to cross and country, doubtless bask together in the smiles of the great ‘Captain of our Salvation.’ Of strong intellect, broad culture, firm convictions, devoted patriotism, earnest piety, and evangelical spirit, Dr. Pendleton made his impress on the age in which he lived, and will be sadly missed, not only in Lexington, but in the State and land which he loved so well and served so faithfully. General B. G. Humphries, of Miss., has also joined the column which has ‘crossed over the river to rest under the shade of the trees,’ leaving behind him the stainless name of a gallant soldier, a true patriot, an able statesman, a noble man. ‘Peace to his ashes!’