The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-05-26


traduct!on tsic) to which he has lent
himself. He surely could not have been
At his best when he ascribed unworthy
motives to those two from his own
State. when they unhesitatingly and
unswervingly selected tho course their
conscience dictated TO them"
Pausing the br!cfest moment to note
that the Major (who is a perfect en-
cyclopaedia of misinformatiou) has
made Farrasut q Nirginian. whereas
he was a Tennesseesn, may I be al
oowed 10 point out In the former OF
these TWO sentences yet another Illus
tration OF what has been an inlmemo-
rial puzzle to gentlefolk-the fondnes..
nay. passion. of the uneducated (the
Major is not. OF course. "a West
Pointer" but rose from being an ZEN
listed man in the Regulars" to a lieu
tenancy Ono doubt descrvedly) as late
as i6ei-thc fondness. l say. of un-
educated people for using big words"
OF whose meaning they have not the
faintest idea. Tho Major evidently
thinks that "traduction" has some
thing to do with trnducing people,
whereas. as all educated men and wo-
men know. there is not even a SEM
blance OF such meaning in the word
AS MIR. Chawles Jeems Yelowplush
would say. Please. sir. may and you
the Dixahunary?"
8. The Major then gives us a long
list OF people who have attested Thorn
ass "unswerving loyalty''-a list too
long and too inconsequent to be set
down again. The Major is right (for
once) in his conjecture-I sweep aside
what they say on this special point
as "hysterical d<n!als after the event"
for they are all rabidly Northern in
their sympathies. end some of them
disreputable witnesses in any case in
which they might give testimony.
But may ! pause at the name of his
first and most distinguished Cor.
rather. notorious) witness. General
VIM Tecumseh Sherman (whose name
the Major. with his usual inaccuracy.
gets wrong, OF course. calling him
"Tecumseh W.. and ask any English
gentleman and soldier whether they
would believe on oath this man (fnal-
Is commanding General of the Army
of the United States). who. in his on
cial Report q April. 1869. OF his ruth
less march OF pillage, arson and rape
through Georgia and the Carolinas,
without hesitation" charged an hon
orable foeman. Lieut. General Wade
Hampton, of the Confederate Cavalry,
with the wanton vaudalism OF laying
in ashes Columbia, the capital of
South Carolina. where General Hamp-
ton had a stately home-though he
knew from his own eyes the charge
was utterly false: and then. ten years
after the war was over, Unconscious
that he was. under his own hand.
writing down his own eternal infamy.
admits in his Memoirs" (vol H.. p.
ESD: "In my official report OF the con-
Migration. L distinctly charged 1t to
General Wade Hampton. and confess
l did SO. pointedly. to shake the faith
of his people in him. for he was in my
opinion boastful and professed to be
the special champion of South Caro-
lima"
If in all the history OF honorable
warfare there be found SO shameless
story as this, know 1t not Under
his own hand. I repeat. without the
fa'ntest PERCEPTION OF his own base
ness, he practically confesses. Yes, I
lied--lied knowingly about q chival-
rous gentleman and soldier, who came
of great race-to shake the faith
OF his own people IN him."
AS John Pope Is a soldier. 80. doubt
less. Is VIM. T. Sherman a witness,
after Major John C. Whites own heart
(though Sherman, according to Piatt,
was one of Thomas's trickiest de-
tractors>.
4. The Major tells us that SHERMAN
visited Colonel Thomas when he join
ell the Army OF the Shenandoah, and
records his testimony as to the con-
, versation that took place. which
breathed absolute loyalty to the
Union" Here Is the same muddlehead-
ed misapprehension OF the point at
issue-Thomas attitude before Vir-
ginia seeded. not his profession of
absolute loyalty" after he had cross
ed his Rubicon and burnt his bridges
(the use OF that noble word loyalty
as employed by the Major aud other
"naytional patriuts" always reminds
me OF what doll Tearsheet' says of
the word "captain'-"God's light. these
villains will make the word as odious
as the word OCCUPY which was an
excellent good word before It was Ill
sorted.")
s. Next in order. Major White cites
Major r. W. Johnsons Memoir"
Thomas, careful even to scrupulosity."
as Doctor South was wont to say, in
noting the page "et seq" (sic) OF
that volume. seeking thereby to I'M
press his readers with his wide inves-
tigation, and by precise references to
books they had never seen. and never
would see, to cover UP his own "plen-
| tifpl lack of wit" ("wit", Major. means
here knowledge" "senso").
Why he should have cited Major
| johnson opp. 81 ct seq.") will proba-