Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-08-27
southern Rhetorical conven.
ton.


,,f ,l,c heroes Uf thu '',ost cause
The convention was cailed Ia order
by that stern old soldier aud fasct''-
ating orator. Gen. Julal X. Early.
In tie a~lscncc Of DR.. Palmer, Gen.
Bcaurcgard was called 10 the cha'f'
and acknowledged the honor III a 'e"
appropriate auu graceful re''''"
The historical society was ofsa'''He"
in 1869, in New Orleans anu mas LOT
its object principally to QUAR-" TUG
material for a true history of u,c war.
Hitherto tho success CT this effort has
been but partial, aud it is now urge !
that tho work is too noble, too patri-
otto aud too necessary to he abandon
ed. \ paper presented by DIR. Pal
mcr, Gen. Hays and Gen. B~caurcgard.
the executive committee of the socic-
ty, dcplorcs the thought as "intolcra-
BILE Of leaving the vindica,ion OF our
principles, and Of II martyrcd dead.
to the honesty Of somr chance anti
9uarian of the future, who may have
to mourn over the loss of records
which it should he our business to
prcscrvc.'
The headquarters Of the society
have been removed from New Orleans
TO Richmond, Va, as more central.
Gen. Early, Admiral Semmcs and
Gov. Letchcr were central figures on
the occasion, and their speeches car
~ us back to other days and more
stirring scenes. Gen. Early posses
ses in a wonderful degree the faculty
of clcctrifying an audience by his
oratory, and is to-day tie most hon
ored manin the affections Of Virgin
ians, in the limits fthc old common
wealth. We extract from the rcpor,
of the proceedings the following
epitome of tho Generals remarks:
la Introducing General Early, Gov
ernor Lctcilcr said that lie was as
remarkable for intellectual visor as
! for heroic gallantry during the war.
General Early was greeted with
, loud applause when lie came forward.
After Il cordial welcome to- his COM
rauas from other states, lie spoke ably
of the importance of preserving the
truth of history i'll general. and If
the |. t. war i'll particular. lie denied
that success is u criterion of right,
and cite.i various historic examples
in refuta,'on of this theory. lie dc
Inicd the proposition that VIC had
submitted everything to IL arb.tEa
mcnt Of the word, aud had lost all
and drew Il W, i'll and aniusin" picture
of the ucwlv-p'cdgeu loyali>t try Ii:
TO keep step IL The music of JOIN
Browns Soul l. Marching On lie
believed that u ala = OF retribu'ion Il
the North would IONIC, AID that tho
present dcmoraIized condition ofi!t
politics of tic county was but I, TO-
ken oftlle coming s, or1n. The South
cannot escape the veTdictol History.
We viii! go down 10 r1s'eii,y either
as rebels and traitors ~ as patriots.
and we mast see to it tl'.,t tic record
is right. lie would moi trust either
0u- enemies or tie U combaianis
among ourselves TO tell tn Story for
r%osteritv. He alluded t. various
misrepresentation OIL the part of
northern historians, and DIV ott cspc-
| cially upon the claim they III: Ike that
! tho Confederatcs Outnuiubel ed the
Fedcrals i'll nearly every battle "ftlc
war. lie scatliin.ly reviewed the
claim of Mcclellan that Lee Quit "m-
bcred him before Richmond. II OF
General Humphrey that Lee .utnu l.
bcrcd Meade ut Gettysbur%-triun
phantly refuted them by facts ant
figures, and said that lie wondered
that some northern ma did not ciaiI;l
that Lee Outnumbcred Grant ut Nl,.
pomatloX. lie quoted from llallcck's
and Popc's dispatches illustrations OF
how northern history is Eanuiaciur,
cd. lie was very severe upon q.
non-combatants, facetiously showed
the difference between lighting bat.
| ties on paper and in the field, and in.
sisted that the true history OF the val
is yet 10 be written by southern men
who fought ii. lie insisted that We
had examples Of true LcrUism unsur.
passed in all the annals Of history,
and tOUchingly compared the dcvo-
ton ora southern mother in the Val
ley of Moorticld, who devoted a noble
boy 10 the service of the country, with
the story of Cornclia the mother oftl.c
Gracchi. lie admitted that there was
q dark side 10 the picture in the lives
of those who skulked during the war,
and of those who, with a good waI
record, had deserted 10 the enemy
since the war;; but c%!oqucmtly argme,
that a people who had given 10 tho
world Stoncwa!l Jackson. Albert
Sidney Johnston, and Robert j.. Lee
with living men worthy 10 he thei'
c )mpecrs, need not fear to have the;
true history given to the world. III
said that this convention was calico
TO put oil foot somc plan by WHICH
these grand cnds can be accomplished
Before the adjournment Of the con
vcntion, Admiral Semmcs asked tllt
privilege of 4 few remarks in defense
ofcertaim passages in his own career
which had been vigorously assailcd
and, as will be seen from the cxtrac,
we give, made a splendid address ant
manly defense:
The Admiral said lie felt the homo,
in being the first to address the So
clety. He would submit Il paper in
vindication of himself. He said his
ship (the -Alabalna) has been called
\ pirate and IL buccanccr, but lac
would show that she was a re9ula,
ship-of-war, commissioned by proper
authority. The Alabama had war.
rants for all she did, and her conduct
was fully justified by ,preccGemts
from the United States. lie said that
on the first proposition he would say
but little, and would coniine himself
chiefly tn the second. lie said
the United States had applied IL
English builders for ships before hl
did, but the Confederate authoritic,
offered more. lie said the Alabama
had been armed and commissioned
on the high seas. The whole CUES.
ton involved in the Alabama corupli.
cations was discussed c%laboratcIv,
cviiiclng the most accurate infor,na.
tloh and learning. After leaving tho
legal argument. lie went into n eta.
tic of various presidents furnished
by the action of the United States In
i'll the war OF l776 and 1872. lie said
the Alabama had done nothing more
than the naval authorities OF ,l,t
United States had directed in innu1u.
cradle instances. There were grave
charges against him-ome was tha,
he had burned captured ships with
out authority of law /; also, that he
had violated his parole, and that he