The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-19

t4sOtefanor,s dAted May Sz, iSSo. at Aus- IScaloosa then the capital of the state; I also his certificate given by Judges IPerry and Taylor to practice law in the State of Alabama in 1928.
 We presume this is the first time the l following letter has ever been pub | lished. We believe with the friend
 who kindly sends this. such things | should be shared by the public and be used as a means of keeping alive the | spirit of the past and the memory of those who have made our history. r.. {. ssss4sz Headquarters 9th Infantry, | Pachuca, March 24th, 1S4S. l My Dear Thompson-You must not I imagine because have not written to i you heretofore that have forgotten you, or ceased to wish you all pros- perity in this world, or all happiness ! in the next. heard from you day or two ago, and it awakened many 8 pleasing memory of the past. l sat for hours thinking over the scenes in which we have been actors, and philosophi- zing on the changes of life. How wide ly was the great poet mistaken when he said:
 Joys recollections are no longer joy But sorrows memory is sorrow still. !"
 Such, at least, Is not my experience. I can look back upon the years gone by-separate the sweet from the bit- ter, and live over again in fancy every hour that was marked with joy. l remember many such passed with you, from the time you first knew me as a boy, debating the principles Of nulli- fication before society of boys, up to the period of our final separation. Since that time how many changes have come over us. In how many range scenes have we borne part!
 how many wild adventures have we ueen engaged!
 And now, you I learn, have settled down into a sober, industrious planter, while I more than 5000 miles away am exercising the functions of militia ry commandant of one of the most im-
 portant departments in Mexico. Well, my dear Judge. yours is the happiest lot. You have your family and your friends about you. You can lay your head upon our pillow in security. You are free from the hardships and dangers of the battle, the march. and the bivouac. All these must encount- CT. together with the diseases of tropical cline and the equally perilous risk of the assassins dagger. An! but you may say there is the prospect of glory and high command as a recom- pense The time has gone by when any glory is to be acquired here. The great battles are all over; little skir- mishes only can now be anticipated. l In such affairs no man can win any lreputation except for personal cour- age, which I regard as one of the least | qualities of an officer. Why then, l you ask, do I remain? Because nature | implanted in me a thirst for advent ure and excitement which must find | vent The whistling of an escopet l ball is a most excellent substitute for
 a tulip, and if was deprived of the 1 one I am very much afraid l shall l resort to the other.
 I find out from the stray papers l which I occasionally see from the | States that you are all confidentially | calculating upon an early peace. l | can see no grounds upon which to | found a hope of a termination of hos l tilities for months to come. l do not | think the Mexicans are at all in earnest | in their p-etended desires for peace. They want time and the negotiations | on their side had no other object. l l expect to nave a good many bullets fired at me from the chaparal before | I see salt water again.
 This place Is in the midst of the mining region sixty miles north of the | ,Tity of Mexico, and the scenery in the l neighborhood Is the most romantic in
 Mexico. I am collecting box ot speci- nens of the different ores, and if can | find means of transporting 1t to New l Orelans. I will send a box to Martin, l Pleasant 6S Co.,, for you.
 I do not pretend to give you des- ] crintian- of the valley or the City of | Mexico. It would take a pamphlet to ] give you a faint idea of the grandeur
 and beauty of the one or the splendor
 of the other.
 | The first building within which I set I my foot in the city was the National
 Palace. the halls of the Montzumas. l I found there a friend belonging to the l Palmetto regiment and we immediate | ly sent off for some champagne and
 fulfilled literally the promise we had | made long ago to revel yet in the
 Halls of the Montezumas.
 Colonel Withers is Governor of this
 department and I have been assigned
 by him to the military command of all | forces in it.
 Your friend
 l Jere. Clemens.
 Hon. John c. Thompson, fernando,
 Miss.
 | At the May Board meeting, the ap-
 plication of Mrs. Polly Fite for mem-
 bership as Real Daughter" was ap-
 proved. Her papers were promptly re-
 turned and her name enrolled in the
 General Sumter Chapter. The mem-
 bers feel great interest in this new
 member and are proud of the honor of
 having a Real Daughter" The beau | tiful souvenir spoon was ordered and
 was duly received, and has been for
 warded with an appropriate letter, to
 the first Real Daughter in Alabama | We are confident there are others who
 are entitled to this honor and We will | do all We can to esta aDlish their claims. -..- Queries.
 66. GAINES.-Could you tell me if l Thomas Gaines. a brother of Captain James Gaines. served in the Revolu- tionary War? The two brothers mar ried sisters. the Misses Strother who wera descended from Edmund Pendle- ttonsNs~Sv
 l. I greatly enjoy reading the Genea- 1 logical and Historical Department of Sundays Montgomery Advertiser. Mobile NJ. 1. $. J.
 67. TRIPPE.-A descendant of ex- Governor Trippe wishes to know his Revolutionary record. D. | Eufaula.
 | 6s. STEPHENS Stephens mar ried Miss Ward. He was highly edu- cated and lived in Virginia; he moved from there to North Carolina and set tied at Guilford c. H. Was he in the Revolution? The celebrated Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia belonged to the