tinction, was never trusted with a separate command, and accomplished a reputation that must be classed among the minor ones of the war.

The intellectual gifts of Gen. Wise are his best title to fame. These gifts are remarkable; his oratory has given him a name known in every part of the country; and his eccentricities yet excite curiosity, and are often quoted with marks of admiration. It is with regard to these eccentricities that we hazard a critical remark. We sometimes find intellect of the highest order abused by a fondness for paradox, and a disposition to make strong and startling effects by sudden contradictions of the received opinions of the public, and novelties of literary style. So great is this affliction of Gov. Wise, that the peculiarity of his conversation is never to agree with any opinion that is advanced; no matter what that opinion is, no matter how firmly fixed the common-place may be in the ordinary judgment of men, he makes a point to go off at a tangent, to dissent for the sake of argument, and to discharge the abundant vivacity of his mind in eloquent dissertations at variance with his audience. His "table talk," as brilliant as that of Coleridge, is equally as rambling, inconsistent, and yet, after all, rather showing a vivacity of intellect than an insincerity of conviction. Men who can talk well on all sides of a question are often sincere for the moment in what they profess to believe, and persuade themselves as well as the audience to accept the novelty of their opinions. Yet this disposition of mind, entertaining as it may be, and partaking of a certain sort of genius, is an affliction—at least, it borders on a moral infirmity; it reduces the intellect that should command by its convictions to the evanescent triumphs of the brilliant disputant. Such have been the triumphs which Gen. Wise has achieved, rather than those of the deliberate and trusted statesman. His disordered and inconsistent political life; his strain after novelty in whatever he speaks or writes; his almost matchless command of language, and an eloquence rich, affluent, but often disfigured by word coinage, and an affectation of carelessness mixed up with classical severity, are marks of an afflicted intellect that, with better training, might have conquered fortune, and made him a reputation that would have been a possession for ever.

Since the war Gen. Wise has made but little figure before the public. A recent address of his in behalf of charity for the

orphans of deceased Confederate soldiers, is all that has been heard of him outside his profession, as a lawyer, in Richmond; and it is so remarkable for his best style of eloquence, and for the historical tribute it contains to the private soldiers of the Confederate army, that, in this double interest, we quote a portion of it as a fit conclusion to this sketch :

"The noblest band of men who ever fought or who ever fell in the annals of war, whose glorious deeds history ever took pen to record, were, I exultingly claim, the private soldiers in the armies of the great Confederate cause. Whether right or wrong in the cause which they espoused, they were earnest and honest patriots in their convictions, who thought that they were right to defend their own, their native land, its soil, its altars, and its honour. They felt that they were no rebels and no traitors in obeying their State sovereignties, and they thought that it was lawful to take up arms under their mandates, authorized expressly by the Federal Constitution, to repel invasion or to suppress insurrection, when there was such imminent danger as not to admit of delay.' The only reason for the delay which could have been demanded of them was to have appealed to the invaders themselves for defence against their own invasion; and, whether there was imminent danger or not, events have proved. They have been invaded until every blade of grass has been trodden down, until every sanctuary of temple, and fane, and altar, and home, has been profaned. The most of these men had no stately mansions for their homes; no slaves to plow and plant any broad fields of theirs; no stocks or investments in interest-bearing funds. They were poor, but proudly patriotic and indomitably brave. Their country was their only heritage. The mothers and wives and daughters buckled on the belts, and sent husbands and sons and brothers forth, and women toiled for the bread and spun the raiment of 'little ones' of 'shanty' homes in country, or of shops in town, whilst their champions of defence were in their country's camps, or marches, or trenches, or battles! They faithfully followed leaders whom they trusted and honoured. Nor Cabinets, nor Congress, nor Commissariat, nor Quartermaster's Department, nor speculators, nor spies, nor renegades, nor enemy's emissaries, nor poverty, nor privation, nor heat, nor cold, nor sufferings, nor toil, nor danger, nor wounds, nor death, could impair their con

stancy! They fought with a devout confidence and courage which was unconquerable save by starvation, "blockade, overwhelming numbers, foreign dupes and mercenaries, Yankeedom, Negrodom, and death! Prodigies of valour, miracles of victories, undoubted and undoubting devotion and endurance to the last, entitled them to honours of surrender which gilded the arms of their victors and extorted from them even cheers on the battle-field, where at last they yielded for Peace!"

BRIG.-GEN. TURNER ASHBY.

CHAPTER LIII.

Definition of Chivalry.-Its peculiarities and virtues.-A notable picture of chivalric courage.-Turner Ashby's family.-His early life.-He raises a company of cavalry. His famous white steed.-Death of his brother.--The devotion of Ashby.— Habits and appearance of the cavalier.-Purity of his life.-Adventure with the enemy at Winchester.-Ashby on the retreat from Kernstown.-Chased by the enemy. His horse killed.-Promoted a Brigadier.-His limited military education.-A scene around the camp-fires.-Dramatic death of Ashby.-Gen. Jackson's tribute to his memory.-Honours to the deceased cavalier.-His place in history.

THERE is a sense of inferiourity among certain men, which gladly revenges itself by miscalling, or caricaturing whatever is superiour to them. To certain low and grovelling minds it is a great contentment and delight to represent men more famous than themselves as accidents; to describe great conquerors as felons; to write down military commanders as murderers on a large scale; to designate virtues in which they have no share as affectations and shams; and to style the chivalry which they do not possess, the splutter of bullies.

It is well to define here that very peculiar quality of manhood, which we entitle chivalry, and of which we claim that the late war has given on the part of the South, peculiar proofs and examples. The term, perhaps, has been much abused and misused; but we recognize in it a well-defined idea, and a basis of estimate of men, sufficiently distinct and characteristic. To be sure, chivalry as an institution of the eleventh century has been dead some time ago; but, as a sentiment, it has fought its way against much of the utilitarian spirit of modern times, and yet survives in some parts of the world.

We have no hesitation in naming the most characteristic element of chivalry, a passion for danger-a love of danger for itself. There are men who enjoy the emotions, the thrill, the sublime intoxication of danger. Some court it in the forces of nature, and are known as a peculiar sort of adventurous travellers. But it is the characteristic and office of chivalry to court danger in the arms of men, and in the character of champion of a principle. It is not the animal desire of fight; the brutal consciousness of power impelled to exercise itself; it is the sentiment of championship, and the pure grand desire of the emotion of danger in the combat of man against man. In such a disposition, there is a natural fondness for single combat-the duello. It is to be remarked, indeed, that chivalry is not gregarious, and prefers always the individual risk and enterprise--the clear-cut front of man to man-to the mixed dangers of a general battle.

What is sentimental in chivalry quickly allies itself with positive virtues. The true knight bas an unfailing scorn of all under-handed means. He observes truth with the rigour of the saint; his regard for it not being necessarily moral, but sentimental-because to lie is cowardly. He is unwilling to admit any trace of malice or revenge in his adventure; and to the vanquished foe his magnanimity is instant, and his generosity unbounded. He is in constant search of good causes of contest. He has a ready and tender regard for whatever is weak and unprotected, and shows it especially in his behaviour towards

women.

Here are elements enough to constitute and define a distinct quality of mind. The term, chivalry, has been used in many broad and vague senses, and especially confounded with moral. questions. There is certainly a conviction of duty in chivalry; it must have its good cause and its conscientious occasion; but that is not sufficient to characterize it. It is not courage alone. It is not generosity alone. It is not prowess alone. It is not high morality alone. It is a distinct quality, sui generis: a dedication of self, a joy of contest, and, with all, a royal passion for danger. Especially, must we distinguish this rare quality of mind from fanatical fervour; for chivalry, although essentially in the character of champion, goes past the idea it fights for, and finds a second object in the gaudium certaminis, the delight