284 Si. nl him llixlnrifil Nor/V 1 ///
was justified in the position taken by it in the War between the States; and, whilst he never obtruded his views about this, or any other political matter, on the public, he never swerved one iota from his opinion on this question, or hesitated to express it on proper oc- casion.
' ' There was scarcely a Confederate demonstration in Richmond, for which he was not called upon to offer invocation or to take a promi- nent part, and whatever he said on such occasions, was in every in- stance pronounced by those who heard them as matchless gems of happiest utterance.
" He loved the Veterans of the Confederacy and would never allow any one else to officiate at the burial of those who died at the Soldiers Home, when he was able to do so."
He was for a score of years or more a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Historical Society, and his zeal was con- stant in behalf of its interests and the fulfilment of its justly reverent objects.
Of him, the now aged Chairman of the Executive Committee, the oldest surviving Major- General of the Confederate Army, but whose life-long animus holds with his heart-beat General Dabney H. Maury, writes to Judge Christian recently from Peoria, Illinois, where he is on a visit to his son:
" I have just heard of the death of Dr. M. D. Hoge, our friend and associate in the work of the Southern Historical Society. It has been a source of manly pride to me, that from the first [institu- tion of the Society, in May, 1869], I was associated with the great Dr. [B. M.] Palmer, of New Orleans, and have been since, contin- uously with Dr. Hoge in the worthy work of our Southern Historical Society; and feel that when our children and our children's children point to that proud record, they will rise up and bless us. Much has been done righteously and effectively to its end.
" High courage is the very foundation of high and noble manhood.
" Dr. Hoge had courage of the highest order.
" All our good people will mourn his absence from our noble com- munity. He was worthy of the highest place in it. Had he been a soldier, he would have been a brave soldier a great general as he was a brave man, and dared do what became a brave and good Chris- tian gentleman. I hope and know that our people will honor his memory, as they loved and honored him when alive."
The following may be embodied as additionally illustrative:
