Year: 1859

"o'uei o' AesteT. ne protested, 10 the last, against the justice of his sentence, but when he nscended the scafIold he hand. ed the sheriff a note, confessing the crime.

 

 A STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

 The Fort Smith Times calls the a,,en. ton of the press of the State to the neces. siiy of establishing State Historical So. ciety. The following is the Times article !:

 :" In most, if not all of the older States. State Historical Societies are formed, for the pur- pose of gathering historical facts concerning me state, "reminiscences of the early settlers and biographies of the prominent and leading men of the State, and everything come cted with the State in which he Society is formed By this means matter is collected together that VIII De found useful in writing the history of the State besides, large and useful library Will De collected, in a few years, which will be of vast benefitto succeeding generations.

 Nothing of this kind, that we have any knowledge of, exists in Arkansas; and we would here call the attention of our leading men to the propriety of forming State Histo- rical Society for Arkansas, to be located at Little Rock, the seat of government.

 Let time be appointed for meeting to be held in Little Rock, for the purpose of organ izing the Society. We mention Little Rock. because 1t appears to be the most suitable place, as 1t is the seat of government, and the proper place for the headquarters of such an association.

 We would be glad to have the newspaners throughout the State notice this matter, and ada such suggestions, in furtherance of the object, that they may think proper. Materials, under the direction of such Society. would be collected, in the course of a few years, to form % very useful and interesting history of

 The suggestion is valuable one, and every consideration of State pride and patriotism requires it's adoption. Our State, apart from its common heritage in the great Republic. has history of its own repsese with instruction; and among the pioneers and fathers of our State, were men whose names and characters may each be dwe, upon, with patriotic pride. Nor can we believe that those who are now reaping the fruits of their toil-who are the favored occupants of the fair lands which they explored and settled, when i, was Yet wllderness-are a thankless race. or forgelful of those to whom they owe their goodly heritage.

 Our people, we believe, are not defi- cient in State feeling or State pride. The men who have served us we'll are not forgotten because they are dead. The hearts of our people are true, and their memories faithful; and we are we'll as. sured they only need to be reminded that what IS engraren on the memories and hearts Of the present generation, should have permanent record.- There may have been neglect in the collection of the materials of our history, but not indiffer- cnce; and when an opportunity is afford ed them of discharging the sacred duty, the appeal that the materials which eluci- date our early history, may not be suffered 10 perish, will no, be in vain. Let us rescue from oblivion, while we may, the names aud deeds of the hardy pioneers who laid the foundations of our noble State, and of all those who, by their wis dom and patriotism, have since contributed 10 its welfare and renown. Already much has been lost. The first settlers are all gone and their immediate descend ants are rapidly passing away. Unless they are now secured, the materials for the authentic history of our state will soon be beyond our reach. The memenioes of the Indian occupants of our soil are scat tered over the whole State with none to gather them. The history of the early French settlements is involved in much obseurily. The influence of the French regime-tor i, was part of Louisiana and subject 10 all the changes and vicissitudes that marked the history of that Slate-is almost unknown, and even the annals of our Territorial Government are in danger of being lost. And is it not then high time this work was entered upon and pros- ecused with the utmost vigor! To attain this object el us form State Historical Society. IL will not only offer safe deposloryio for whatever relates to the olden men and the oden times-it wil not only be an efficient agent in the collection of materials for authentic history; but will awaken throughout our borders spirit of research, and infuse among our people a commendable State pride. States much younger than our own and far inferior in historic interest. have already made great advancement in this work. Wisconsin in particular. though much our junior, has SC. us an example of enlightened and pa triotic interest, we'll worthy of our imita- lion. She has Historical Society which has already collected a library of over three thousand volumes. Let us initiate her example, and form an organization which will to some extent at least perpetu- ass she Temofies of the past