The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1898-05-07
GRENADA, MISS, SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1898.
EXTRACTS OF PRESS NOTICES
On the Death of Senator f. G. Walthall

Chivalric, manly, gentle. tender: the
devoted friend, husband. father, he was
in nature something even more and
better: something those who knew him
felt and realized. something unique and
hexpressible. Admitted to his friend
ship, the oppressed, the weary, 'tbe
heavy laden drew upon his great
heart for sympathy, upon his almost
infallible judgment for advice, with
firm reliance that the draft, however
great, would be cheerfully honoted.
The watchword of his life was Duty,
and that life. dearer to all of US than to
the one to whom God gave its keeping,
was sacrificed TO duty. When batfled
and defeated, Hood called upon Forest,
the wizard of the saddle" to cover
his retreat from Nashville, the reply
was. II can do it, general, If you will
give me Walthal! to command the rear
guard" The request was complied
with, and history, that records the re-
treat of Xenophon and the ten thous-
and" chronicles no more brilliant
achievement than that OF the young
Misslssippian and his gallant command.
But that tour Of duty wrecked an iron
| ICUu6IlVutlOu. uC was uOFCt q SCkOuS
man afterward, and for the last twenty
years has probably not been free from
fever single day; had not been free
from insomnia single night.
Years afterwaad, when he came to
the senate as the successor Of our be-
loved and lost Lamar, it fell to bis lot
to be selected as one OF the funeral es-
cort for his colleague, the late John
Kenna, of West Virginia. He was not
strong enough to meet the demands OF
that journey to The mountains in most
inclement weather, but he kept the Sc
cret well-too we'll. The presiding Of
ficer had named him; the heartbroken
widow desired his attendance-thnt
SUMMONS was to his dutiful spirit i'm
perative. The journey to the noun.
most OF the committee; he persevered
with only the stimulant Of duty as an
incentive, and returned to be forever
afterward an invalid, and an easy prey
to the Asiatic scourge, la grippe,
which hurried him to life's ending
Aberdeen Examiner, April 49,.
In the annals of the political history
OF his country his name will live among
the brightest, the purest, the loftiest
and the best. Strong in character,
high in ideal, accurate in conception,
persistent in execution, just in judg-
ment, his name will live the synonym
of all the qualities which enter into
and make up the exalted type Of South
ern manhood. His WAS life that en-
; riches history, leads humanity upward:
enuobles mankind, arouses the spirit of
} emulation and kindles the fires OF am
bition. As civilian-a lawyer at the
} bar, he lowered above medlocrity as
the snow capped mountain peak towers
above the hillock. In battle, when the
storm cloud of war poured its leaden
hail in perfect deluge of death, he
stood like the majestic oak Of the for
est, dauntless, defiant, despising dan
} ger; and with his eagle eye fixed upon
the eternal sun OF right, he moved on
J ward, intrepid, unswerved. In the
} halls of state the same motives moved
him. and he was guided by the same
superb spirit 10 the social circle he
was loved aud admired; in politics be
was the ideal OF his party, and on the
field OF battle he was trusted and fol-
lowed with that implicit confidence
that unQuestiOning trust which alone Is
born of undistu"bed and indestructible
faith in the ability. the goodness and
the loyalty of the man. He was a
christian without cant; gentleman
without a blemish; politician without
hypocrisy; friend who never faltered,
and foe who never fouled. He was
true TO every trust, equal to every
: emergency-always meeting the ex-
pectations OF his friends and disap-
pointing his enemies. - Greenwood
Commonwealth, April %.
His greatest achievement In the army
was the covering OF the retreat OF
Bragg's army at Missionary Ridge,
where he held in check $4,000 Federal
soldiers uatil night enabled him to Sc
cure the retreat of his own command.
He performed similar service in c'v'
ering the retreat OF Hood army from
I Nashville. He never seemed TO seek
\ for honors, but they came to him as OF
Y a right. \ His speech in the SEN
4 ate December 10, 1890, on the federal
/ election bill was perhaps the most
brilliant achievement of his forensic
career. 1t wss a logical, conservative
| and pathetic appeal for justice to the
South that carried with it the force ol
| truth and won the sympathy Of the sen
ate. Walthall was perhaps the mos'
q influential Southerner in the senate
n He possessed peculiar personal mag
n netsm and charm Of address that made
N friends and admirers among politica
y opponents. His manners were those O
Y d polished gentleman, courtly ant
d grand without arrogance or pretense
n -Okolona Sun, April 20.
n Senator Walthall died in Washing
N ton on Thursday evening OF last weel
\ Of typhoid pneumonia. His death, whil
not unexpected, has caused more re
3 gret among his brother senator's an'
the people OF his State than is usual
a accorded to men of even his prominen
E position. His surprising record as
Z major general, under adverse condi
y tions, with his courtliness of manner
L and kindly disposition, won him friend
among all classes, and with his polit
cal adversaries, while his firmness an
ability commanded the respect of al
The world is better for the life an
example Of man pure and above re
\ preached in private and public lift
y guided at all times by high sense {
dntv. Such a man was the QeceaSe