FROM GEN. ECHOLS.
Louisville, Ky., July 28, 1894.
Major Thos. C. Elder, Staunton, Va.:
My Dear Major—After an absence of several days, I returned to this city yesterday, and find your postal of the 23rd inst., and also the newspaper containing an account of the ceremony of the delivery to, and acceptance by, the county authorities of Augusta county, of the portrait of the late distinguished John Howe Peyton. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of me, and giving me an opportunity of reading the addresses made by yourself and Captain Bumgardner on the occasion referred to. I have read the speeches with a great deal of interest, and I have been very much impressed and pleased with your chaste, striking, and eloquent address, as the representative of the Supervisors of the county, in accepting the portrait. You have, with a master's hand, delineated the character of Mr. Peyton, and I hope that your address will be preserved as a fitting accompaniment of the skillful personation of the striking countenance that the artist has presented. I recollect Mr. Peyton very well. When I was a boy I saw him, and heard him frequently at the bar, generally in Lexington. I have also a very pleasant recollection of having enjoyed his elegant and generous hospitality at his home.
When I can first remember Staunton, the Staunton bar was made up of men who will long live in the memory of those who had the good fortune to know them.
Judge Thompson was on the bench, and around him Thos. J. Michie, A. H. H. Stuart, John B. Baldwin, David Fultz, H. W. Sheffey and a number of other gentlemen, all of whom together formed a notable group that would have made any forum illustrious.
It is certainly a most fitting thing that the noble county of Augusta should have her Pantheon, in which shall be gathered the statues and likenesses of her great sons, in order that those who come after shall see the men who have given to her her proud pre-eminence among the counties of the "Old Dominion."
Again thanking you for your kindness, and hoping to see you in a few days, I am, very truly yours,
John Echols.
Many other interesting letters have been received from distinguished gentlemen in different parts of the State, but neither time nor the limits of this pamphlet admit of their insertion.