, 1890-06-05
WAS POOR BUT RICH.
A Few Lines About q Sweet
Singer.
He LOVED HIS FELL0NMEN
True Story of One of the Grand
est Minstrels That Ever
Sang.

Dunnhs ana OF Victor Hugo, OF
Voltaire, and his translator, smol.
let has lntely died. Colonel Will
l.. Visscher, in his incompatible
Fairhaven Herald, mentions his
name. 1t Is John n. Edwards.
10 Know that man, personally,
was equivalent to tho possession of
n fortune. Canaries and linnets
sing beautifully, but Edwards
eclipscd all of these. He sang from
MS own sweet soul to the souls OF
men.
Born In the South, he was natur.
ally a Southron. He loved the
orange groves, and was fond of pure
women. His chief delight was a
moss rose, and he despised a harlot.
Aggressive in military affairs and
politics, he was meek as a woman or
n baby In social life.
"Cover my rctreat,n he used to
say, to an intimate friend; 'cOver
my retreat tonight and | will do
the same for you some day."
Poor major! IIe ought have
uVed u thousand years.
Granting that he was rebel, let
us throw the mantle of charity over
his faults, and see him "a IL man.
See him hugging his little ch hildren
to his breast and weeping over some
fancied wrong that he had possibly
done.
Poor major!
He never knowingly did IA wrong
act In all his eventful lifetime, but
when the children clambered upon
his knees, and hugged and kissed
him, he would sit for hours In tears.
Why, nobody knew, for he had of
all lnecessaries of life in plenty. Still,
he nearly always cried when the |
children came.
Although an aggressive democrat /
and rebel, II you please, lie had Us
many personal friends among re-
publicans as he had In the ranks of /
his own political organization, in |
which he was IA leader. His writings /
were grand. and his social chats /
were beautiful. Nobody else wanted I
to talk when the major was In u
talkative mood. They all loved to
sit and listen.
He could speak French and Span
ish. He could write proseand rhyme,
and whenever he wrote, either In
prose or in rhyme, the product was "a
poem.
If all his writings could be clipped |
out OF the books and the papers and /
pasted together they would cngirth /
the globe. And In all this mass Of |
hurriedly written matter there was |
never "A word or n line that the most /
modest or rsensitiveg gentleman would /
hesitate to read aloud in the pres ]
ence of his sisters and their maiden /.
friends. His writings We're abs0- /.
lutely pure, and when he found an
exchange that was not pure he ever
afterwnrd east IL upon the floor, ]
without reading. He was one OF
the few journalists that America has
produced.
When "God made Himself AN
awful rose OF dawn" He made moth
ing more glorious than the soul of
John n. Edwards. IL will illume
the world through all the ages that
are yet to come. Colonel Vlsschor
ought to write the history of this
great soldier and Incompatible
friend.
He could fight, too, when occasion
required. Colonel Foster insulted
him once, and he challenged the
colonel to mortal combat. The col
onel chose the ground In Winneba-
20 county, Illinois, hot-bed OF
Unionism. Edwards did not tell
his employers or even his wife or
the children that he So Iondly loved,
that he was going out to fight a duel
to the death. The fact leaked out
after they had gone, but not through
Edwards lips. They fought In ear
nest, but had only one shot apiece,
and although both were line shots,
and only six inches above the mark,
fortunately no blood was spilled.
Edwards was major in General
Joe Shelby's brigade. This little
band could not realize that the cause
of the South had been lost, and they
resolved to never surrender. Ed
wurds pleaded with them TO accept
the situation, but they would not.
"Arc you going with us, John?"
they said one day.
"Whcrc?"
"To Mexicor-with the Spanish
pronunciation, "Maheco. "
"Yes.n
And they forsworc allegiance 10
the United States and went down to
save Maximilian. They did not like
the dudish appearance Of tho COM
manders in that country, but they
Joined the army. They had made
up their minds never to return to
their own country, and they cared
little for general results. a dash of
900 miles ON horseback was their
next adventure. 1t was a fearful
ride. There was forest and Jungle,
brigands, mountain lions and pan
theirs, and II cross ON every tree, and
q band of devils on horseback.
Shelby and Edwards rode at the
head OF the column. With whoop-
ing. and yelling, and the swish of
swords equal to Excallbor, they
swept through the forest and over