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 294 courage in directing a detachment which checked the opposing army at Fredericksburg, impelled General Lee to exclaim: "Is it not glorious to see such courage in one so young!"

Mr. Cox added: "In general orders that of Major John Pelham was the only name mentioned below that of a major-general, and that which was worth more than any rank in any army more valuable than any title of nobility or badge of any order, General Lee bestowed on him the name by which he was afterwards known, "the gallant Pelham."

Mr. Cox related the circumstances under which Pelham was mortally wounded at Kelly's Ford, March 17, 1863, quoted General Stuart's tribute to him, and concluded: His ashes sleep now in the village grave-yard of Jacksonville, Ala., by the side of his mother, who loved him, and whom he loved so well. The night his body reached home was beautifully clear. The moon, at its fullness, silvered over the whole landscape, and changed the sombre funeral procession from dark to white. The Spartan mother determined that come in whatever condition the boy should, she would meet him on the threshold of his home; and so she was at the door awaiting the arrival of his form, now cold in death. She looked upon the scene, so pure and bright, and whispered through her tears: "Washed white in the blood of the Lamb that was slain." When future ages shall read the story of Major John Pelham, the hero of the artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, may they not also say, though war is terrible and its bloodshed tinges the pages of history, these red stains are washed white in the blood of this fallen hero? Rome had her Pantheon dedicated to all her gods. England erects monuments to her mighty dead in her ancient Westminster Abbey. The South shall, in this hall, find her Pantheon consecrated to the recollection of her heroes; her Westminster Abbey devoted to the memorials of her great men. The "gallant Pelham" is in their illustrious ranks. Through more than a quarter of a century, which intervenes between his time and ours, his life affords the best example of purity in heart, nobleness of purpose, grandeur in aim, bravery in action and devotion to duty. The recent actions of sons of Confederate veterans under the burning tropical suns of Cuba sublimely show that the same warm blood of the South is coursing through their young veins, and that the story of his life is not forgotten or unremembered.