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 MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 HON. SAMUEL PASCO, 
 
 OF FLORIDA. 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 HON. EDWARD C. WALTHALL 
 
 (Late a Senator from the State of Mississippi), 
 
 DKr.n-KKEI) IN riTK 
 
 SF.NATE OF THE UNITIil) STATl-S. 
 
 Al A Y 2 6, 1 8 9 S . 
 
 WAsiiiNaToisr. 
 
 1898. 
 
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 68539 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRLSS UPON THE LIFE AM) CIIAK'AOTKR 
 OF HON. EDWARD C. WAi;ni\LL. 
 
 Mr. PASCO. Mr. President, on the 24tli of March ]a-;L onr l.ito 
 aosociate, Edwakd Cauy Walthall, united witU his brother 
 Senators in the memorial services lield in this Chamber on tho 
 death of the late Senator Isham a. Harris, of Tennessee, and was 
 among those who addressed the Senate on that occasion. Two 
 weeks later, on tho Tth of April, similar services were held in 
 memory of his former colleague, James Z. George. Senator 
 Walthall offered appropriate resolutions expressing the regret 
 and sorrow of the Senate at the death of the late Senator and tlio 
 condolence of the Senate w'th the family of the deceased and tho 
 people of Mississippi in their bereavement, and delivered an ad- 
 dress which will no doubt be preserved among the historic archives 
 of that great State. These two distinguished sons were long asso- 
 ciated together in public service, and the recollections and views 
 and opinions of tho survivor have a special value for this reason. 
 But theoccasionAvillal ways beremembered with peculiarinterest 
 by Senator Walthall's immediate friends in tiio Senate, because 
 it was the last time he met with us here. He had been in a low 
 state of health during the latter part of the winter, and for many 
 weeks was absent from his accustomed seat. Through great care 
 :J and attention he got over the attack, and when con\-alescing was 
 '^ advised to seek rest from his public duties. He was unwilling to 
 . do so, and believed that his strength would be gradually restored 
 if he did not overtax himself. He resumed his work in the Senate 
 and set his mind upon delivering the two addresses I have referred 
 to. We hoped that when these duties were discharged he would 
 spare himself and grow stronger as the spring advanced. 
 
 None of us realized when he asked at tho close of the memorial 
 services that the resolutions of the State legislature and of tho 
 supreme court of Mississippi in memory of Senator George be in- 
 cluded with the Senate proceedings that his voice would never 
 again be heard in the Senate. But his last adjournment had come. 
 When we next met he was confined to his bed, and never again 
 arose. Two weeks after the close of the memorial services, at 
 about the same hour of the day, he crossed the dark river and left 
 earth's scenes behind him. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with Senator Walthall commenced 
 after my election to the Senate in 1887. But I had often seen him 
 before then, when we were both engagedin the military serviceof 
 the Confederate States during the late war, and I thus became fa- 
 miliar with his military career during some of the years that that 
 terrible struggle continued. Tiie regiment to wli'ich I belonged 
 joined the Western army in the siimmer of 1862, and accompanied 
 S39S S 
 
General Bragg in his famous march through Tennessee and Ken- 
 ti^.ckj-. Walthall was in that campaign as colonel of the Twenty- 
 ninth Mississippi in Chalmers's Brigade, and his regiment sufifered 
 severely at Munfordville. The Mississippi and Florida troops 
 were afterwards engaged near one another at Perry ville, and later 
 in other great battles of the Western armies, and his face and form 
 were familiar to all the old veterans who marched and fought in 
 the Army of Tennessee. It was soon after this Kentucky campaign 
 that, in recognition of his distinguished services, he was promoted 
 to the rank of brigadier-general. 
 
 When 1 entered the Senate, it was my good fortiine to be 
 assigned to a seat near him. There was much in the history of 
 the past to draw us together; our views were alike on many sub- 
 jects. Our closer contact increased the admiration and regard I 
 had long cherished for him. Though he never volunteered any 
 aid, I felt the influence of his experience and sound judgment and 
 example in reaching my own conclusions and determining my own 
 action; and an acquaintance was formed which ripened, as the 
 years passed, into intimacy and friendship, the recollections of 
 which will always be revived with pleasure and satisfaction as long 
 as life lasts. 
 
 I shall not attempt in this brief and hastily prepared sketch to 
 do more than give a mere outline of his career. When Missis- 
 sippi i)assed her ordinance of secession January 9, 1861, he was a 
 resident of Coffeeviile, and was serving his second term as dis- 
 trict attorney of his judicial district. He was about 30 years of 
 age, well connected, popular with his people, of engaging man- 
 ners, and with every promise of a bright future before him. In 
 his profession he had already established a reputation as a sound 
 adviser and a fearless and successful advocate. The war soon 
 followed, and Walthall resigned his office and entered the mili- 
 tary service of the Confederacy in the early spring. He first 
 served as a lieutenant in the Fifteenth Mississippi and was soon 
 made lieutenant-colonel. Other promotions followed his brilliant 
 career, until he became a major-general in 1864, and those who 
 are familiar with the inner history of the closing months of the 
 Confederacy tell us that still higher honors were before him if the 
 struggle had been much longer continued. 
 
 His services were especially conspicuous on many occasions in 
 resisting the tide of defeat and holding back overwhelming num- 
 bers until a successful retreat was practicable, as at Fishing 
 Creek or Mill Springs, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. 
 After the last-named engagement T was separated from my com- 
 mand by the fortunes of war, but I have been informed upon high 
 authority that when General Hood fell back from Nashville, in 
 December, 1864, General Walthall was selected at the request 
 of General Forrest to aid him in covering the retreat. This he 
 successfully accomplished with a picked body of infantrj', and he 
 was the last to cross the Tennessee River. 
 
 When the banner of the Confederacy was furled and the terms 
 of peace had been accepted, the soldiers returned to their homes 
 and General Walthall, like the other great leaders of the South, 
 went quietly back to his State and resumed the duties and accepted 
 the obligations of private citizenship. For twenty years he con- 
 tinued the practice of law, first at his old residence in Coffeeviile 
 until 1871, and later at Grenada, winning his way to the very front 
 of his profession and gaining its highest rewards. 
 3398 
 
But it was not easy to discharge the duties of citizenship in the 
 States which had formed the Southern Confederacy durinpr the 
 years immediately succeeding the war. Tlie plan of reconstruc- 
 tion inaugurated by the Executive in 1805 was accepted by the 
 people; they returned to tlieir usual vocations, and peace and 
 order were gradually restored; but before the new State govern- 
 ments were fully organized, the plans of the Executive were over- 
 thrown by the legislative authority and the newly enfranchised 
 freedman became a potent political factor under the second recon- 
 struction. Years of strife, confusion, corruption, and misgovem- 
 ment followed. They were hard years for the old inhabitants of 
 the States which had been identified with the Southern cause. No 
 other teacher than experience can enable one to form a correct 
 idea of the trials and difficulties and perplexities of those days. 
 In sections of country, as in many of the counties of Mississippi, 
 where the white people were in a large minority, the conditions 
 were aggravated. It was a contest for the preservation of our civ- 
 ilization, and in the end we regained control of our States because 
 here and there were found such leaders as Wai.thalt. and (leorge, 
 his old colleague, with wisdom and prudence and determination 
 to take advantage of suitable opportunities as from time to time 
 they were presented. 
 
 When, as the work of restoration progressed, these representa- 
 tive men were sent by their States and districts to this Capitol, 
 there were many who declared that the war had been a failure, 
 that those who had once been in arms against the Government 
 could not be trusted to legislate for its maintenance, and that 
 their admission to seats in the Senate and House and to other high 
 places threatened the permanence of the Union. When Wal- 
 thall entered the Senate more than one-fourth of its membership 
 was made up of those who had filled important positions in the 
 Southern Confederacy, military and civil, and one in whose mind 
 the recollections and prejudices of the past still lingered might 
 naturally fall into the error of supposing that this was an element 
 of weakness in the body politic. But this personal contact of 
 Senators and Representatives who were on different sides during 
 the civil war has been a potent influence in bringing the sections 
 into closer and more friendly relations, and whatever fears may 
 have been entertained of the effects of the return of the Southern 
 leaders to place and power in the National Government, they have 
 long since been dissipated. 
 
 It is worthy of mention that about the time of Walthall's 
 death our dift"erences with Spain developed into actual war: and 
 if any bitterness or heartburnings still existed between the people 
 of the North and the South, they were banished and forgotten in 
 the presence of a foreign foe. and all were ready to unite together 
 to carry the flag of our country to victory. How the heart of this 
 patriotic man would have rejoiced had he been spared to us a few 
 davs longer to hear the message of the President nominating Lee 
 and Wheeler among the generals of the army to lead soldiers of 
 all sections of a reunited country against the armies of Spain and 
 to see their unanimous confirmation without reference to party 
 lines or to the old strife which was fought to a finish more than 
 thirty years ago. 
 
 Although General Walthall was always ready to serve his 
 people and his party during the years that he jiracticed his pro- 
 fession after the war, and on several occasions served as chairman 
 
 8398 
 
6 
 
 of the Mississippi State delegation in the Democratic national 
 convention, he held no public ofiace till he became a member of 
 the Senate March 13, 1885. 
 
 The Democratic party had gained a national victory in the cam- 
 paign of 1884, and the newly elected President, in recognition of 
 the^generons support he had received from the South, desired the 
 assistance of able and prominent men from that section to assist 
 him in his Cabinet. He very naturally turned to Lamar, who 
 was conspicuous among the great leaders on the Democratic side 
 of the Senate for his learning, his eloquence, his sound judgment, 
 his intimate knowledge of public affairs, and his widespread pop- 
 ularity, not in Mississippi alone, but throughout the entire South. 
 Besides this, the conservative course he had pursued as a Senator 
 and his courage in maintaining his convictions in the face of 
 public opposition had won the confidence and admiration of many 
 in other parts of the country besides his own. 
 
 When he became Secretary of the Interior, Governor Lowry 
 did himself great credit and satisfied the wishes and desires of the 
 people of his State by selecting Walthall to fill the vacant chair, 
 and Mississippi, through her legislature, thrice ratified this action 
 by successive elections whenever it was necessary to renev.^ his 
 credentials, his last election extending his term to March 4. 1901. 
 In January, 1894, he had suffered from a serious illness. His re- 
 covery was slow and his condition unsatisfactory. He required 
 change and rest from the engrossing duties of his office. His 
 friends urged him to secure the desired release from confinement 
 and responsibility by obtaining a prolonged leave of absence, 
 which the Senate would readily have granted him. 
 
 Tiiere was much to make this advice acceptable, for he had won 
 his way to the chairmanship of the Committee on Military Affairs, 
 and a "resignation meant a surrender of his committee appoint- 
 ments and some of the advantages which are connected with con- 
 tinuous service in the Senate; but he had a high conception of 
 what was due to his people and to the country. He felt that his 
 State was entitled to the service of two Senators and that his per- 
 sonal wishes and interests ought not to control his action. If the 
 condition of his health prevented him from rendering his portion 
 of the service due from or belonging to his State for an indefinite 
 period, he felt that he should ask the legislature to select anotlier 
 to assume the duties and responsibilities of the office. As the re- 
 gialt of this action, Mr. McLaurin, now governor of the State, was 
 chosen to fill the vacancy and served to the end of that term. On 
 the 4th of March of the following year, 1895, the new term com- 
 menced, to which Walthall had already been elected prior to his 
 resignation, and his old associates welcomed him back to the Sen- 
 ate, gratified that his restored health permitted him to resume his 
 labors and duties. 
 
 Before Walthall had completed half of his first term the 
 President appointed Secretary Lamar to fill a vacancy in the Su- 
 preme Court. Opposition arose to his confirmation because of his 
 connection with the Confederate cause, and it developed so much 
 strength that sei'ious apprehension was felt by his friends that he 
 might be defeated on the final vote. A warm friendship had long 
 existed between these two distinguished men, and Walthall 
 felt that the services of Lamar were so valuable to the country 
 that they .should be continued, even if the confirmation failed. 
 This feeling, and his entire unselfishness, lead to an interesting 
 
 K08 
 
incident whicli lias been communicated to nie by a near relative 
 of Justice Lamar who occupies a prominent position in the State 
 ■which I have the honor in part to represent. He has given it to 
 me in the following language: 
 
 V71u1g matters were iu this uncertain state, Mr. Lamar received a most 
 striking aud gratifying evidence of unselfish friendship from Senator Wai.- 
 TiiALi.. General Wai.thalt. had implored Mr. Lamar not to Lave tlie Sen- 
 ate and accept a Cabinet po.sition, although it was more tlian likely that Iho 
 General would be his successor. He now thought that ^Iv. Lamar would bo 
 the most useful man to the State and to the South that could be sent to tho 
 Senate, believing that he had so proven while a member of that body. Ho 
 feared that the opposition to Mr. Lamar's confirmation would succeed, and, 
 so fearing, thought that the State legislature should make him a Senator 
 again, both foi- his pers<3nal vindication and for the goo;l of the State. 
 
 It was his intention to bring this about by resigning his own seat in order 
 to create a vacancy. This intention he communicutt^l to ;\Ir. Muldrow, tho 
 Assistant Secretary- The fact was stated by Mr. Muldrow to Mr. i^amar 
 while the action of tho Senate was still in suspense, and Mr. Lamar replied: 
 " Sir, before I would permit Walthalf, to do that I would go upon tho 
 streets of Washington and break rock for a living." 
 
 So generous a rivalry in renunciation for the sake of friondshiii is not 
 often encountered in these days of sellish office seeking. 
 
 Senator Walthall enjoj'ed the entire confidence of the Senate. 
 He was seldom absent from his seat either in tlic committee room 
 or in this Chamber, He was diligent in looldng after the interests 
 of his people as they were affected bj' the legislation pending here. 
 He did not often participate at length in the debates of the Senate, 
 but when he spoke his words had great weight and he always had 
 an attentive audience. But thoug-li he was not a frequent debater, 
 few Senators were more successful with the measures they took 
 in hand or exercised a greater influence upon the legislation before 
 this body. His jitdgment was sound; he kept up with the current 
 events of the country, and he was a safe and prudent counselor. 
 No Senator on either side of the Chamber was more generally 
 admired and beloved, and his death has left a void that will not 
 be soon filled. 
 
 But the sorrow and mourning has not been confined to his fam- 
 ily, nor to the circle of relatives and friends wlio were near to 
 him, nor to the Senate, nor to the city of Washington. The great 
 State of Mississippi laments the loss of a distinguished son. who 
 had served her long and faithfully, in peace aud in war, tinder 
 the dark shadows of the period of reconstruction and in the hap- 
 pier days that followed her redemption. In his lifetime she trusted 
 him and showered upon him her highest honors, and the news of 
 his death brought forth expressions of grief and regret from all 
 classes of her people. 
 
 It was my privilege to serve upon the committee appointed to 
 accompany his remains to their last resting place at Holly Springs, 
 the home of his early da.ys. Thotisands had already gathered 
 there from near and far in the early morning when our train 
 reached the city. The cadets from the State Agricultural College 
 served as a guard of honor and conveyed the body to tho church 
 where he used to worship with his parents; and in the afternoon 
 the funeral services were there condxtcted in the presence of a 
 vast gathering of mourners. 
 
 The loving "wife was there who had accompanied him in many 
 of his marches and campaigns during the war, nur.>ed liim when 
 wounded, cared for him when .sick, and added to his happiness 
 during the years of their wedded life. Relatives and friends and 
 old neighbors, political associates, and public oflS.cials had all 
 
 o398 
 
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 gathered together to paj' the last tribute of respect to his memory. 
 Floral decorations in beauty and profusion had been sent from 
 all parts of the State and were heaped around the casket and the 
 altar. As the services closed at the church an organized body of 
 battle-scarred veterans who had served under him during the late 
 war came forward and each taking one of these floral tributes, 
 carried them in their procession to the cemeterj', where they were 
 appropriately arranged in the family lot, and there, amid the fra- 
 grant flowers of spring, surrounded by a vast concourse of the 
 people among whom he had lived, we laid him to rest in the bosom 
 of the State he loved so well. There may he repose in peace till 
 the morning of the resurrection. 
 
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