as the great surgeon and friend could only himself give to the world.
The publication of these papers had a wide-spread and powerful effect. They not only caused the exclusion of certain books from our schools and colleges, and the preparation of truthful history for the use of the young. They corrected the mistaken views of many of our own people, and they went far and wide in every section of the land and to other lands. In large degree they have produced a better understanding of the great issues at stake, and have brought men of fair and large minds to recognize the fundamental justice of the cause of the South and the unselfish patriotism and lofty devotion of the men who filled the ranks, and the high character and great ability of many who led them.
As the large editions of these papers have been exhausted and their importance has been yet more widely recognized, the demand has risen for their collection and republication in the present volume. The book now before you is not merely for preservation on library shelves, but that being read, the children and youths of all the country may know that their sires and grandsires have left them examples of unselfish devotion to a righteous cause and a heritage of imperishable honor.
