Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/262

 262 Southern Historical Society Papers.

At the conclusion of the reading of the poem, Major John J. Horner introduced as the orator of the day, General George W. Gordon, of Memphis, Tennessee.

ADDRESS BY GENERAL GORDON.

General Gordon, after acknowledging the complimentary introduc- tion, said:

"One of the noblest duties of the living is to perpetuate the virtues and memories of the dead. And in obedience to the impulse of this sacred sentiment, we have here assembled to dedicate that beautiful monument (pointing to the shaft), with its expressive and appro- priate symbols', to the glory and memory of a great soldier, a true patriot and a grand man General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, who fell at the battle of Franklin, Tenn., November 30, 1864. Although more than a quarter of century has elapsed since he perished in the cause of his country, that shaft but now gives visible expression to those cherished sentiments of remembrance and veneration which have ever since, and ever should, animate the minds and hearts of a grateful people.

" General Cleburne was born in the county of Cork, Ireland, March 17, 1828, and was consequently in the thirty-seventh year of his age at the time of his death, and just in the full prime and pride of his glorious manhood. He was a descendant of William Cley- borne, the colonial secretary of Virginia in 1626.* His mother was of the lineage of that Maurice Ronayne, who obtained from King Henry the IV ' a grant of the rights of Englishmen.' He early indicated a predilection for the profession of arms by leaving Trinity College,

of County Westmorland, and his wife, Emma, daughter and co-heiress of George Kirkbred, of County Northumberland, England (Circa, 1530). The name has been variously spelled Clyborne, Cleyborne, Cleburne, Clay- borne, Cleborne, Cliburne, Claiborne. The last form was that used by Colonel William Claiborne, Secretary of the Colony of Virginia, and the first man honored with the title of " rebel" in North America. General Cleburne was of the family of Colonel Claiborne, but not descended from him. The spelling Claiborne generally obtains in the United States, and the name has been distinguishedly represented. Dr. Christopher J. Cle- borne, Surgeon and Medical Director United States Navy, a cousin in a remote degree of General Cleburne, is another highly worthy representa- tive of the Irish branch of the family. ED.
 * This statement is inexact. The family deduces from Richard Clyborne,