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The Southern Dead at Arlington.
A little narrow bed of earth
Holds now their prostrate forms,
Lost to the land that gave them birth,
And deaf to her alarms.
Their folded hands can join no strife,
Their hearts can feel no hate,
Sure soldiers brave and true in life
Deserve a soldier’s fate.
How bootless is a warfare made
On mute and helpless men ;
Who never more can grasp a blade,
Or strike one blow again.
The w omen of their people love,
Their deeds in battle done,
Dear memories of those who strove.
And whose short race is run.
Now, on their cold pathetic dust,
They craze to come and weep,
And emblems bring of love and trust,
To beautify their sleep.
God’s blessings come to all alike,
For all his Howers bloom,
Shall it be left for man to strike
The garland from the tomb?
RESPONSES OF CONFEDERATE GENE
RALS TO THE GETTYSBURG INVI
TATIONS.
Invitations were issued to the follow
ing Confederate officers to attend the
Gettysburg reunion : General Robert E.
Lee, General John B. Wood, Command
ing Right Division of General Long
street’s Co’-ps ; General James Long
street, General Jubal Early, General
Rhodes, General R. E. Johnston, Gene
ral R. Newell, General S. D. Picket,
General G. 11. Stuart, General Wade
Hampton, General 11. Heth, General
Kemper, Major 11. K. Douglass, General
James A. Walker, General Win. Smith,
known as ‘ Extra Billy ;” General John
S; Mcseby, General R. D. Lilly, Gene
ral J. K. Trimble, and General J. D.
Imbcden.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE DECLINES.
The following are the only answers
from these Confederate Generals :
Lexington, Ya., Aug. 5, 1869.
Dear Sir : Absence from Lexington
has prevented my receiving until to-day
your letter of the 26th ult., enclosing an
invitation from the Gettysburg Battle
field Memorial Association to attend a
meeting oi the officers engaged in that
battle at Gettysburg, for the purpose of
marking* upon the ground by enduring
memorials ot granite the position and
movements of the armies on the field.
My engagements will not permit me to
be present. 1 believe, if there, I could
not add anything material to the infor
mation existing on the subject* I think
it wiser, moreover, not to keep open the
sores of war, but to follow the examples
of those nations who endeavored to ob
literate the marks of civil strife, to com
mit to oblivion the feelings it engen
dered.
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
R. E. Lee.
FITZHUGH LEE S OPINION.
Richmond, Stafford Cos., Va , (
August 14, 1869. \
Hon. D. JMcConoghy, Secretary Gettys
burg Battle-field Memorial Associa
tion :
Dear Sir : i have the honor to acknowl
edge tae receipt, through General It
L. .Lee, at Lexington, oi a hospitable
invitation to attend the “re-union” of the
principal officers ot the two armies that
fought for the field of Gettysburg. It
will not be in my power to be present at
the time indicated, viz : last week in
August. My division of cavalry reached
Gettysburg on the afternoon of the 2d
July, 1863, was placed upon the left of
our army, together with General Wade
Hampton s division, the whole being
under the command of General J. E. B
Stuart, General Lee’s Chief of Cavalry
at that time ; fought during the 3d with
the cavalry upon the right flank of the
youi struck out and the following
substituted—bederal army. Stuart,
Hampton, and I had been absent from
the army with our cavalry from the time
it left \ irginia until the above time.
Any information that I may possess on
tle subject-matter of your communica
tion will be cheerfully rendered. I
rat er think, though, and I write it in all
kindness, sir, that, if the nation is to
continue as a whole, it is better to forget
an orgi\e lather than perpetuate in
granite proofs of its civil wars. Sin
cerely thanking y OU and your Associa
tion lor the conciliatory spirit which
piompted a couiteous invitation, I am
very respectfully, your obedient servant’
Fitzhugii Lee.
general longstreets letter.
New Orleans, Aug. 12, 1869.
~ : our interesting letter of
the 30th Ult, via Saratoga, fs just re-
ceived. A few days previous, I wrote
to advise you that important affairs
would detain me in the city during the
season. In reply to your enquiry as to
the best mode of securing the assistance
of the Southern gentlemen in marking
the different points of the field, I can
only answer for myself: Other persons,
residents of this city, who were there,
are now absent, or I should consult them
and send you their views. I would be
pleased to visit Gettysburg at any time
when I can leave New Orleans, but I do
not think it possible for me to do so this
year. I would prefer to make the visit
with as many persons as can be gotten
there, but if I can only do so by myself,
I would prefer such a visit rather than
none, if I would be likely to find some
one there to assist ine in marking the
points and lines of the field. I am, sir,
very respectfully, your obedient servant,
James Longstreet.
REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR.
The recollection of General Wade
Hampton’s foray upon General Grant’s
beef pen, in the fall of 1864, is still
fresh in the minds of the men who lay
for so long a time half starved in the
trenches around Petersburg.
It was quite a brilliant and well-exe
cuted affair. Hampton’s chief scout,
Sergeant Shadbourne, of the Jeff Davis
legion of cavalry, had made a daring
reconnoissance into the enemy’s lines,
and ascertained the exact position of the
beef pen, and assured the General that
he could guide our command within a
mile of the camp of the cavalry guard
detailed by Grant to watch his meat
supplies. He was perfectly familiar
with all the roads and by-paths leading
to the Sycamore Church, at which point
the animals were being grazed. So we
were marched to within ten miles of the
Church and halted to rest our horses,
and to perfect the details of the next
morning’s work. Pickets were posted,
the scouts sent out to scour the roads
leading to the Church, and the weary
command lay down to sleep. Some
hours before daylight the bugle sounded
merrily “to horse,’’ and off we trotted,
feeling confident that our experienced
leader was up to something* which would
redound to the glory of our amu and
the benefit of our cause. Just as day
dawned the charge was sounded, and
the front regiment dashed ahead upon
the enemy’s vidette and into the camp
of the sleeping Federals, Shadburne
and his gallant band of scouts at the
head. The enemy’s vidette fired his
piece, roused his comrades, and the shots
flew thick and fast for a while. The wild
shout of victory was but the death-knell
to some of the bravest spirits there, and
many oi the men and officers of both
sides were killed. A hasty prayer for
the fleeting spirits of their dying com
rades, and the men dashed on to where
the vast heard of splencfed cattle stood
stupidly gazing at the wild route into
which the Federal protectors were
plunged. And then began, the plunder
ing of the rich commissary and sutler
stores. Men were seen everywhere
smoking the finest cigars, drinking toasts
to fine liquors, laden down with blankets,
boots, butter, cheese, and a confused mass,
such as only a hungry, half-famished
Rebel plundering a Yankee camp could
gather up. The camp having been
thoroughly ransacked, Hampton ordered
his Generals—Rosser, Dear mu*, and \V.
11. F. Lee—to get their men together,
and then came the command, “back to
camp,” Colonel \\ bite “of" the flowing
locks,” in the advance, with his splendid
battalion of Virginia cavalry. Then
came the balance of Rosser’s command,
then Deariug, and, far in the rear, to
keep danger away from the bovine pris
oners, 2,390 strong—cable W. 11. F.
Lee, with his division. The sun was
sinking in the West, but not down, when
a courier from White announced that he
had met the enemy’s cavalry on the
Jerusalem plank-road, and they were too
many for him. The spurs were dashed
into the sides of the horses, and soon the
wild yell announced that Rosser’s troopers
had made a charge under the lead of
that daring General. As General
Hampton spurred to the scene of action,
a courier was met, “on foaming steed,”
from Rosser, saying he had dismounted
his men and/ought on foot until not ten
rounds of ammunition remained to the
man. Courier after courier was dis
patched to hurry up General Lee. The
cattle were turned off into another road,
and in the meantime our horse artillery
had been placed in position to respond
to the shots of the enemy. Who that
was there can ever forget the wild gran
deur of that scene ? The sun shedding
its parting beams upon the battling hosts,
the heavy plunging of the shot and shell
through the ranks of men and horses,
the waving of battle flags, the galloping i
of staff officers and couriers over the |
field, the defiant shouts of our men calling
1 11 mmß.
to the Yankees to “coipe and get some
beef for supper,” all made up a scene
strangely mingling the sublime and the
ridiculous. Ttie enemy left our front
just’at dark, and wc quickly took up our
line of march t. » camp. The hungry in
fantry in the trenches received the news
of our good fortune with shouts of joy,
and they did not call in question the
fighting qualities of the cavalry any more.
And yet we had only kept up the brilliant
reputation they had always given us as
foragers. Never had such steaks and
roasts been seen in the army since our
Pennsylvania campaign. It is needless
to add that everybody enjoyed the beef.
—Natchez democrat.
From the Atlanta Constitution.
THE DEATH OF GEN- WHARTON-
In our last Sunday morning’s paper,
we gave a sketch of the gallant Texan
General and our warm friend, John A.
Wharton. It has drawn forth the follow
ing interesting account of the circum
stances of his death, which we give in
the place of our usual weekly article. It
will be found well worthy of perusal.
We would state in this connection,
that the scries of Confederate sketches
we have been giving, have been called
forth by request of many of our readers,
who thought that these incidents of our
experience of leading men of the war, in
the four years of almost uninterrupted
service, would not be entirely unaccep
table. Such episodes make the material
for history, as well as keep alive the
memory of departed Southern heroism.
Mr. Editor : I have read with a
great deal of interest and pleasure, a
recent editorial in The Constitution,
which gives an exceedingly spirited and
corrrect delineation of the character of
one of the most gallant heroes of the
Lone Star State, Gen. John A. Wharton.
As many of your readers had the for
tune of serving under the command of this
brave and chivalrous Texan, during our
struggle for independence, and many
citizens knew him personally and by
reputation, I have thought that an ac
count of his tragical and untimely death
might prove interesting. The facts I
am going to relate, i iearned on a visit
to Texas, three years ago, from General
Jas E. Harrison who was present during
the difficulty, which resulted in Geueral
Wbarton’s death.
General Wharton, on being transfer
red to the trans-Mississippi Department,
assumed the command of the cavalry
formerly commanded by the lamented
Tom. Greene. Among the officers who
reported to him for duty, was the dis
tinguished Judge David Terry, of Cali
fornia; who some years previously, had
killed Senator Broderick iu a duel, and
was the brother of our first Colonel,
Frank Terry. Judge Terry had run the
blockade from California, and reached the
Western Army, just before the battle of
Chickamauga, iu which battle he fought
brave as a private, in our regiment of
“Texas Rangers,” and was severely wound
ed.
He immediately received from the
War Department the commission of
Colonel of Cavalry, and was ordered to
report to Gen. Wharton, by whom he
was placed iu command of a Brigade.
Among the regimental commanders in
his Bz igade, was Col. George \\. Baylor
one of the most intiepi j fearless, and
knightly officers in our army, and who, up
to that time, had been a chevalier Bayard,
sans peur et sans reproche.
Colonel Baylor objected to serving under
Colonel Terry, who was his junior in
rank whereupon he and General Wharton
in a conference on the subject, used some
very bitter and acrimonious language to
each other. A short time after, Geneaal
Wharton and General Harrison were
riding in a carriage, iu the city of Hous
ton, when they met on the street Colonel
Baylor. General Wharton accosted him,
and demanded to know why he had left
his command without permission. Colo
nel Baylor remarked that he had come
to lay his grievance before General
Magruder. Wharton ordered him back
to his command, and told him if lie did
not return immediately he wuuld have
him arrested and sent back under
guard. Colonel Baylor proceeded to
Gen. Magruder’s quarters, who was not
present at the time. General Wharton
afterwards drove to the office, accompani
ed by General Harrison, and, on reach
ing the door, Colonel Baylor, who was
reclining on a couch, rose up aud began
to draw his pistol. General Wharton ad
vanced, holding his fist in a menacing
manner and pouring out torrents of
invectives against Baylor. On reaching
Baylor he struck him iu the face,
whereupon Baylor fired—killing him
almost instantly. Colonel Baylor was
tried by a Court Martial and acquitted.
Thus died one of the purest patriots,
truses friends, and most gallant warriors
that ever came from the “Lone Star
State” which was so prolific in heroes
during our struggle. With the fire,
impetuosity and dashing elan of a Murat
he united the greatest prudence and
wariness as a commander. As you
have justly remarked, he performed as
many brilliant actions and committed as
few errors as any officer in our army.
With great brusqueness, and often even
severity of manner, he possessed an af
fectionate and child-like disposition. He
was idolized by his troops, and, in •re
turn, enteftainedjhe most sincere and ar
dent attachment for them.
Your writer had the great pleasure of
serving under his command during his
whole career in the Western Army—a
part of the time as an officer in the
Texas Rangers, and a part of the time
in command of Gen. Wharton’s scooting
company, and subject only to his orders.
He thus had ample opportunities for
studying his character, which, in many
respects, was an anomaly. Our relations
were most confidential, and our friend
ship never received the slightest inter
rupton.
Let us drop a tear of sympathy and
regret over his untimely grave.
Gen. Wharton was no less at home on
the hustings, than in leading his troo
pers in the charge. As Breckinridge
Elector, in 1860, with his eloquent and
impassioned appeals on the stump, he
contributed much in carrying the vote of
Texas for this gallant son of Kentucky.
Had lie lived, his friends predicted for
him a brilliant political future.
Many thanks to you for your generous
and truthful tribute to my noble old
regiment. * Her heroic dead lie slumber
ing on the gory fields of Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Georgia. Let us, their
few surviving comrades, do justice to
their gallant deeds and keep them ever
fresh and green in our memories.
A “Texas Ranger
KEEP YOUR PROMISE,
Nothing is more common than for
persons to make promises or excite ex
pectations which are never realized. It
is an easy thing to give one’s word, but
a harder thing to keep it. An unwilling
ness to disoblige, a disposition to keep
on good terms with all, a desire to get
rid of importunity, together with a care
lessness and indifference as to what con
stitutes an obligation, lead many to say
they will do a thousand things which are
never done, and which indeed, if they
had looked into their hearts, they would
have discovered they had no real inten
tion of doing. Some amiable people
seem to lack the nerve and moral courage
to say “No,” even when the contrary in
volves them in an untruth.
The result of this looseness of speech
and conscience is great vexation and
disappointment. The party to whom the
promises are made relies upon them. But
the faithlessness of the other party de
ranges all plans and subjects lfim to much
inconvenience. He is impatient and
vexed, gives way to unpleasant tem
pers, says many hard things, and’
perhaps, commits much sin. Confidence
is also destroyed in the person who
makes the promise. The word of the
latter has been pledged, and if he has
failed to keep it once, he may fail again.
The victim of his deception, having
discovered that he is not to be relied upon
fixes a mark upon him, and takes care
not to put himself in the way of fiHure
disappointments, and advises his friends
in like manner.
Hence, too, the man who makes and
breaks promises is a loser in the end; so
far as met e self-interest is concerned. In
order to keep his buisuess, or not to diso
blige customers or friends, he pledged
himself for what he knew, or might have
known, would not be done. —Instead of
promoting his end by this deception,
he has frustrated it. The loss of custo
mers, and their adverse advice and in
fluence, does him an hundred-fold more
harm than frankly to have told the truth
at the outset
The worst result of all, however, is
the injury done by the faithless promisor
to his own *noral principles. Whatever
interpretation he may put upon his lan
guage and however he may endeavor
to excuse himself, he has uttered a
falsehood Trie repetition of such ob
liquities deadens his moral sense, so
that, after long practice, he thinks noth
ing of giving and breaking his word. At
last he can tell an untruth every day of
his life, and not even be conscious of
impropriety. The lessons to be drawn
from this subject are : That we should
weigh well our words.—Strictly inter
preted, perhaps, your language may not
have necessarily implied an absolute
ebligalion; but, if such an impression
was made, the injury is done. And,
that in all transactions it is best, iu every
sense of the term, to be honest. If a
request cannot be complied with, say so.
You may fall, for the time, to please a
customer or friend, but in the end you
will have gained his respect and confi
dence,
The Cuurch Monthly (Ritualistic?
has an article on “Sacramental Coaf es
sion.” It quotes the text: “Who
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them, and wlmsesever sins ye retain
they are retained,” and then adds those
comments : ‘‘On these words we could
well afford to rest our argument. Row
were it possible, we ask, to express th •
CathoFc claim to the Power of the Kev.
more tersely, more distinctly, more em
phatically? Suppose they were not the
words of Christ ? Imagine them to be
the utterances of some Pope of the Mid
dle Ages. What then ? What would
be the rejoinder that Protestants would
make to one wdio should attempt to explain
them away in the interests of the Church
of Rome ? Is the Scriptural teaching
concerning Infant Baptism anythin* like
as plain as this ? Or. concerning the
Lord’s Day ? Or, concerning the com
munion of women ? Or, concerning the
Divinity of Christ ? Or, concerning the
Trinity in Unity ? By no means. What,
then is the explanation which Protes
tantism has to offer for its evident in
consistency ? Why does it ignore a truth
as plainly set fort (prejudice apart) as the
Power of Priestly Absolution , when it
accepts other truths not half so emphat
ically taught, but on which neverthe
less, it lays the greatost stress? We leave
Protestantism in its old dilemma and
pass on ”
Hand-Shaking. —There is a philo
sophy* in h'aud-shaking as an indication of
character. It gives expression to the
degree in which you are appreciated or
esteemed by another. There is a variety
of methods in shaking hands, according
to the temperament, disposition, or occa
sion. Some seize your hand with an
earnest grasp—one foot extended—and
holding your eye with their own. Such
is the salutation of the jolly tar, ready to
“share the last shot in the locker” with
the stranger of the hour. Others, again,
seize your hand with much frenzy, and
may* mean as well toward you; but they
do not look directly at you, but pass
your caeeks, with eyes steadily* set, as if
looking for some undefined ghostliness
beyond, and seeming to converse with
the same. Others give too great a show
of fervency to the salutation, causing
your fingers to tingle with pain; you
involuntarily glance at your injured hand
expecting it to bo compressed into one
horrid, bruised, extended index-finger.
Others add to this exhibitton of muscular
power by swinging your hand up and
down—a sort of intimation that they are
about to “pump” you. A few come so
close to you that you can feel their
breath upon your face; others seem to b?3
experimenting on the greatest distance
at which the salutation can be exchanged
Seme daintily offer you the tips of their
fingers; it means either that they con
sider themselves your superior, or that
they are not disposed to be especially
gracious. The most agreeable shake ol
the hand is that meaning which stands
guarantee to the sympathetic look and
kindly-spoken word. The most abomi
nable hand-shaking is a lazy, listless of
fering, giving no pressure, and averse to
receiving’ We have shaken hands with
such persons, aud the memory ot it has
annoyed us for an hour afterward.
Exchange.
Progress in New England. — Murder
of the Innocents. —Appalling and Start
ting Revelations. —A gentleman in one
of the smaller towns of Connecticut
writes to The New York Independent
“You make a great mistake when you
speak of the crime of foeticide as being con
fined to the large cities. It prevails all
over the country. I dare not tell you
what I know —and the information has
been given unsolicited —in reference to
this horrid practice in the land. I do not
believe there is a village in the New
England States but this crime is practis
ed more or less. There are men who
make it their business, with medicine
and instruments, to carry on this
slaughter. And even M. D.s in good
and regular standing in the Church have
practised it. Men are making herein this
highly moral State, $3 000 and $4,000 a
year in this small town alone at this
business. Their patients are from the
highly religious and fashionable to the
low and vicious. Their scale ot charges
is according to their cupidity, aud size of
purse of the victims. Delicate fema
les go in the dead of the night, dres
sed in masculine attire to avoid de
tection to obtain the means to hide then
shame. The cause of the evil lies m
‘lust, which is as near to murder as tire
to smoke.’ The demoralization of the
people at large in the practice of hceu
tiousneps, fuin shes a topic of thegrea t >
anxiety to the philanthropist. . .
American women lose their sliame, u
race is lost. ChiircUmembeislnp
bar. The continence otman an 1 .
’ of woman is the only hope.