and when we open it we feel a most refreshing certainty of having encountered somebody who dares to talk, to have opinions and to defend them."
The Cincinnati Morning Herald, says: "We always welcome the Messenger, though a portion of its contents is occasionally repugnant to our ideas of truth and right. It is well conducted and always contains something to interest and instruct. * * * There is one thing we like about this periodical, a manly independence. We like it as a whole, but think this feature of it especially commendable."
The Portsmouth, Va., Old Dominion "hits the nail on the head" practically: "We cherish this work as the most valuable monthly visitor we have and as worthy of the patronage of every Southerner. Give the proprietor a glorious start in the eleventh volume." There are a number of other compliments and commendations.
The editor made several excursions in the interest of his magazine, and one had been to the North prior to the period that has now been reached. As soon as Mr. Thos. Ritchie, Sr., heard that he was meditating such a trip, he tendered him some excellent letters—actually gave them—to Bryant, B. F. Butler (not him of the Confederate war), and Bancroft, who then lived in Boston. Mr. Ritchie had always been kind to
