loss of our Lee, than not to have learned to prize him as the noblest
gift which could have been allotted to a people and an epoch; a grand
man, rounded to the symmetry of equal moral and intellectual powers,
graces, and accomplishments; a man whose masterly and heroic energy
left nothing undone in defending a just cause while there was a
possibility of striking for it a rational and hopeful blow, and whose
sublime resignation when the last blow was struck in vain, and when
human virtue was challenged to match itself with the consummation of
human adversity, taught wiser, more convincing, more reassuring, more
soul-sustaining lessons than were to be found in all the philosophies
of all books.
"_Resolved_, That worthily to show our veneration for this majestic
and beautiful character, we must revolve it habitually in our
thoughts, and try to appropriate it to the purification and elevation
of our lives, and so educate our children that they shall, if
possible, grow up into its likeness.
"_Resolved_, That while it is honorable for a people to deeply lament
the death of such a man, it would be glorious for a generation to
mould itself after his model; for it would be a generation fraught
with all high manly qualities, tempered with all gentle and Christian
virtues; for truth, love, goodness, health, strength, would be with
it, and consequently victory, liberty, majesty, and beauty.
"_Resolved_, That we would hail the erection of the proposed monument
as well adapted to the purpose of preserving this admirable and most
precious memory as a vital and beneficent influence for all time
to come, and we will therefore cordially aid in promoting the Lee
Monument which has just been inaugurated."
ATLANTA, GA.
A crowded meeting assembled in this city on October 15th. After an
impressive prayer from the Rev. Dr. Brantly, the meeting was addressed
by
GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON.
"_My Friends_: We have met to weep, to mingle our tears, and give vent
to our bursting hearts. The sorrowing South, already clad in mourners'
weeds, bows her head afresh to-day in a heart-stricken orphanage; and
if I could have been permitted to indulge the sensibilities of my
heart, I would have fled this most honorable task, and in solitude and
silence have wept the loss of the great and good man whose death we so
deplore. I loved General Lee; for it was my proud privilege to know
him well. I loved him with a profound and all-filial love, with a
sincere and unfaded affection. I say I would have retired from this
flattering task which your kindness has imposed, but remembering that
his words, his deeds, his great example, has taught us that duty was
the most commanding obligation, I yield this morning to your wishes.
"We have met to honor General Lee, to honor him dead whom we loved
while living. Honor General Lee! How utterly vain, what a mockery of
language do these words seem! Honor Lee! Why, my countrymen, his deeds
have honored him! The very trump of Fame itself is proud to honor him!
Europe and the civilized world have united to honor him supremely, and
History itself has caught the echo and made it immortal. Honor Lee!
Why, sir, as the sad news of his death is with the speed of thought
communicated to the world, it will carry a pang even to the hearts of
marshals and of monarchs; and I can easily fancy that, amid the din
and clash and carnage of war, the cannon itself, in mute pause at
the whispering news, will briefly cease its roar around the walls of
Paris. The task is not without pain, while yet his manly frame lies
stretched upon his bier, to attempt to analyze the elements that made
him truly great. It has been my fortune in life from circumstances to
have come in contact with some whom the world pronounced great--some
of the earth's celebrated and distinguished; but I declare it here
to-day that, of any mortal man whom it has ever been my privilege to
approach, he was the greatest; and I assert here that, grand as might
be your conceptions of the man before, he arose in incomparable
majesty on more familiar acquaintance. This can be affirmed of few men
who have ever lived or died, and of no other man whom it has ever been
my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more you gazed the more his
grandeur grew upon you, the more his majesty expanded and filled your
spirit with a full satisfaction that left a perfect delight without
the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly majestic and dignified in
all his deportment, he was genial as the sunlight of this beautiful
day, and not a ray of that cordial, social intercourse but brought
warmth to the heart as it did light to the understanding.
"But as one of the great captains will General Lee first pass review
and inspection before the criticism of history. We will not compare
him with Washington. The mind will halt instinctively at the
comparison of two such men, so equally and gloriously great. But with
modest, yet calm and unflinching confidence we place him by the side
of the Marlboroughs and Wellingtons who take high niches in the
pantheon of immortality. Let us dwell for a moment, my friends, on
this thought. Marlborough never met defeat, it is true. Victory marked
every step of his triumphant march; but when, where, and whom did
Marlborough fight? The ambitious and vain but able Louis XIV. But he
had already exhausted the resources of his kingdom before Marlborough
stepped upon the stage. The great marshals Turenne and Condé were
no more, and Luxembourg the beloved had vanished from the scene.
Marlborough, preëminently great as he certainly was, nevertheless led
the combined forces of England and of Holland, in the freshness of
their strength and the fulness of their financial ability, against
prostrate France, with a treasury depleted, a people worn out,
discouraged, and dejected. But let us turn to another comparison. The
great Von Moltke, who now rides upon the whirlwind and commands the
storm of Prussian invasion, has recently declared that General Lee,
in all respects, was fully the equal of Wellington, and you may the
better appreciate this admission when you remember that Wellington was
the benefactor of Prussia, and probably Von Moltke's special idol. But
let us examine the arguments ourselves. France was already prostrate
when Wellington met Napoleon. That great emperor had seemed to make
war upon the very elements themselves, to have contended with Nature,
and to have almost defeated Providence itself. The enemies of the
North, more savage than Goth or Vandal, mounting the swift gales of a
Russian winter, had carried death, desolation, and ruin, to the very
gates of Paris. Wellington fought at Waterloo a bleeding and broken
nation--a nation electrified, it is true, to almost superhuman energy
by the genius of Napoleon, but a nation prostrate and bleeding
nevertheless. Compare this, my friends, the condition of France and
the condition of the United States, in the freshness of her strength,
in the luxuriance of her resources, in the lustihood of her gigantic
youth. Tell me whether to place the chaplet of military superiority
with him, or with Marlborough, or Wellington? Even the greatest
of captains, in his Italian campaigns, flashing fame in lightning
splendor over the world, even Bonaparte met and crushed in battle but
three or four (I think) Austrian armies; while our Lee, with one army
badly equipped, in time incredibly short, met and hurled back in
broken and shattered fragments five of the greatest prepared and most
magnificently appointed invasions. Yea, more! He discrowned, in rapid
succession, one after another of the United States' most, accomplished
and admirable commanders.
"Lee was never really defeated. Lee could not be defeated!
Overpowered, foiled in his efforts, he might be; but never defeated
until the props which supported him gave way. Never, until the
platform sank beneath him, did any enemy ever dare pursue. On that
melancholy occasion, the downfall of the Confederacy, no Leipsic, no
Waterloo, no Sedan, can ever be recorded.
"General Lee is known to the world as a military man; but it is easy
to divine from his history how mindful of all just authority, how
observant of all constitutional restriction, would have been his
career as a civilian. When, near the conclusion of the war, darkness
was thickening about the falling fortunes of the Confederacy, when its
very life was in the sword of Lee, it was my proud privilege to know
with a special admiration the modest demeanor, the manly decorum,
respectful homage, which marked all his dealings with the constituted
authorities of his country. Clothed with all power, he hid its very
symbol behind a genial modesty, and refused ever to exert it save in
obedience to law. And even in his triumphant entry into the territory
of the enemy, so regardful was he of civilized warfare, that the
observance of his general orders as to private property and private
rights left the line of his march marked and marred by no devastated
fields, charred ruins, or desolated homes. But it is in his private
character, or rather I should say his personal emotion and virtue,
which his countrymen will most delight to consider and dwell upon. His
magnanimity, transcending all historic precedent, seemed to form a new
chapter in the book of humanity. Witness that letter to Jackson, after
his wounds at Chancellorsville, in which he said: 'I am praying for
you with more fervor than I have ever prayed for myself;' and that
other, more disinterested and pathetic: 'I could, for the good of
my country, wish that the wounds which you have received had been
inflicted upon my own body;' or that of the latter message, saying to
General Jackson that 'his wounds were not so severe as mine, for he
loses but his left arm, while I, in my loss, lose my right;' or that
other expression of unequalled magnanimity which enabled him to
ascribe the glory of their joint victory to the sole credit of
the dying hero. Did I say unequalled? Yes, that was an avowal of
unequalled magnanimity, until it met its parallel in his own grander
self-negation in assuming the sole responsibility for the defeat at
Gettysburg. Ay, my countrymen, Alexander had his Arbela, Caesar his
Pharsalia, Napoleon his Austerlitz; but it was reserved for Lee
to grow grander and more illustrious in defeat than even in
victory--grander, because in defeat he showed a spirit greater than in
the heroism of battles or all the achievements of war, a spirit which
crowns him with a chaplet grander far than ever mighty conqueror wore.
"I turn me now to that last closing scene at Appomattox, and I will
draw thence a picture of that man as he laid aside the sword, the
unrivalled soldier, to become the most exemplary of citizens.
"I can never forget the deferential homage paid this great citizen by
even the Federal soldiers, as with uncovered heads they contemplated
in mute admiration this now captive hero as he rode through their
ranks. Impressed forever, daguerreotyped on my heart is that last
parting scene with that handful of heroes still crowding around him.
Few indeed were the words then spoken, but the quivering lip and
the tearful eye told of the love they bore him, in symphonies more
eloquent than any language can describe. Can I ever forget? No, never
can I forget the words which fell from his lips as I rode beside him
amid the defeated, dejected, and weeping soldiery, when, turning to
me, he said, 'I could wish that I was numbered among the fallen in the
last battle;' but oh! as he thought of the loss of the cause--of the
many dead scattered over so many fields, who, sleeping neglected, with
no governmental arms to gather up their remains--sleeping neglected,
isolated, and alone, beneath the weeping stars, with naught but their
soldiers' blankets about them!--oh! as these emotions swept over his
great soul, he felt that he would have laid him down to rest in
the same grave where lay buried the common hope of his people. But
Providence willed it otherwise. He rests now forever, my countrymen,
his spirit in the bosom of that Father whom he so faithfully served,
his body beside the river whose banks are forever memorable, and whose
waters are vocal with the glories of his triumphs. No sound shall ever
wake him to martial glory again; no more shall he lead his invincible
lines to victory; no more shall we gaze upon him and draw from his
quiet demeanor lessons of life. But oh! it is a sweet consolation to
us, my countrymen, who loved him, that no more shall his bright spirit
be bowed down to earth with the burdens of the people's wrongs. It is
sweet consolation to us that his last victory, through faith in his
crucified Redeemer, is the most transcendently glorious of all his
triumphs. At this very hour, while we mourn here, kind friends
are consigning the last that remains of our hero to his quiet
sleeping-place, surrounded by the mountains of his native
State--mountains the autumnal glory of whose magnificent forests
to-day seem but habiliments of mourning. In the Valley, the pearly
dew-drops seem but tears of sadness upon the grasses and flowers. Let
him rest! And now as he has gone from us, and as we regard him in all
the aspects of his career and character and attainments as a great
captain, ranking among the first of any age; as a patriot, whose
sacrificing devotion to his country ranks him with Washington; as a
Christian, like Havelock, recognizing his duty to his God above every
other earthly consideration, with a native modesty that refused to
appropriate the glory of his own, and which surrounds now his entire
character and career with a halo of unfading light; with an integrity
of life and a sacred regard for truth which no man dare assail; with
a fidelity to principle which no misfortune could shake--he must
ever stand peerless among men in the estimation of Christendom, this
representative son of the South, Robert E. Lee, of Virginia."
RICHMOND, VA.
A meeting was held on November 3d, presided over by Mr. Jefferson
Davis. Mr. Davis delivered an address, of which we regret that we have
received no complete copy. We give it as reported in the Richmond
_Dispatch_.
REMARKS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS.
As Mr. Davis arose to walk to the stand, every person in the house
stood, and there followed such a storm of applause as seemed to shake
the very foundations of the building, while cheer upon cheer was
echoed from the throats of veterans saluting one whom they delighted
to honor.
Mr. Davis spoke at length, and with his accustomed thrilling, moving
eloquence. We shall not attempt, at the late hour at which we write,
to give a full report of his address.
He addressed his hearers as "Soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy,
comrades and friends: Assembled on this sad occasion, with hearts
oppressed with the grief that follows the loss of him who was our
leader on many a bloody battle-field, a pleasing though melancholy
spectacle is presented. Hitherto, and in all times, men have been
honored when successful; but here is the case of one who amid
disaster went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in
misfortune have assembled to honor his memory. It is as much an honor
to you who give as to him who receives; for, above the vulgar test of
merit, you show yourselves competent to discriminate between him who
enjoys and him who deserves success.
"Robert E. Lee was my associate and friend in the Military Academy,
and we were friends until the hour of his death. We were associates
and friends when he was a soldier and I a Congressman; and associates
and friends when he led the armies of the Confederacy and I presided
in its cabinet. We passed through many sad scenes together, but I
cannot remember that there was ever aught but perfect harmony between
us. If ever there was difference of opinion, it was dissipated
by discussion, and harmony was the result. I repeat, _we never
disagreed_; and I may add that I never in my life saw in him the
slightest tendency to self-seeking. It was not his to make a record,
it was not his to shift blame to other shoulders; but it was his, with
an eye fixed upon the welfare of his country, never faltering, to
follow the line of duty to the end. His was the heart that braved
every difficulty; his was the mind that wrought victory out of defeat.
"He has been charged with 'want of dash.' I wish to say that I never
knew Lee to falter to attempt any thing ever man could dare. An
attempt has also been made to throw a cloud upon his character because
he left the Army of the United States to join in the struggle for the
liberty of his State. Without trenching at all upon politics, I deem
it my duty to say one word in reference to this charge. Virginian
born, descended from a family illustrious in Virginia's annals, given
by Virginia to the service of the United States, he represented her in
the Military Academy at West Point. He was not educated by the Federal
Government, but by Virginia; for she paid her full share for the
support of that institution, and was entitled to demand in return
the services of her sons. Entering the Army of the United States, he
represented Virginia there also, and nobly. On many a hard-fought
field Lee was conspicuous, battling for his native State as much as
for the Union. He came from Mexico crowned with honors, covered by
brevets, and recognized, young as he was, as one of the ablest of his
country's soldiers. And, to prove that he was estimated then as such,
let me tell you that when Lee was a captain of engineers stationed in
Baltimore, the Cuban Junta in New York selected him to be their leader
in the struggle for the independence of their native country. They
were anxious to secure his services, and offered him every temptation
that ambition could desire. He thought the matter over, and, I
remember, came to Washington to consult me as to what he should do;
and when I began to discuss the complications which might arise from
his acceptance of the trust, he gently rebuked me, saying that this
was not the line upon which he wished my advice: the simple question
was, 'Whether it was right or not?' He had been educated by the United
States, and felt wrong to accept a place in the army of a foreign
power. Such was his extreme delicacy, such was the nice sense of honor
of the gallant gentleman whose death we deplore. But when Virginia
withdrew, the State to whom he owed his first and last allegiance, the
same nice sense of honor led him to draw his sword and throw it in the
scale for good or for evil. Pardon me for this brief defence of my
illustrious friend.
"When Virginia joined the Confederacy, Robert Lee, the highest officer
in the little army of Virginia, came to Richmond; and, not pausing to
inquire what would be his rank in the service of the Confederacy, went
to Western Virginia under the belief that he was still an officer of
the State. He came back, carrying the heavy weight of defeat, and
unappreciated by the people whom he served, for they could not know,
as I knew, that if his plans and orders had been carried out the
result would have been victory rather than retreat. You did not know,
for I would not have known it had he not breathed it in my ear only
at my earnest request, and begging that nothing be said about it. The
clamor which then arose followed him when he went to South Carolina,
so that it became necessary on his going to South Carolina to write a
letter to the Governor of that State, telling him what manner of man
he was. Yet, through all this, with a magnanimity rarely equalled,
he stood in silence without defending himself or allowing others to
defend him, for he was unwilling to offend any one who was wearing a
sword and striking blows for the Confederacy."
Mr. Davis then spoke of the straits to which the Confederacy was
reduced, and of the danger to which her capital was exposed, just
after the battle of Seven Pines, and told how General Lee had
conceived and executed the desperate plan to turn their flank and
rear, which, after seven days of bloody battle, was crowned with the
protection of Richmond, while the enemy was driven far from the city.
The speaker referred also to the circumstances attending General Lee's
crossing the Potomac on the march into Pennsylvania. He (Mr. Davis)
assumed the responsibility of that movement. The enemy had long been
concentrating his force, and it was evident that if he continued his
steady progress the Confederacy would be overwhelmed. Our only hope
was to drive him to the defence of his own capital, we being enabled
in the mean time to reënforce our shattered army. How well General Lee
carried out that dangerous experiment need not be told. Richmond was
relieved, the Confederacy was relieved, and time was obtained, if
other things had favored, to reënforce the army.
"But," said Mr. Davis, "I shall not attempt to review the military
career of our fallen chieftain. Of the man, how shall I speak? He was
my friend, and in that word is included all that I could say of
any man. His moral qualities rose to the height of his genius.
Self-denying; always intent upon the one idea of duty; self-controlled
to an extent that many thought him cold, his feelings were really
warm, and his heart melted freely at the sight of a wounded soldier,
or the story of the sufferings of the widow and orphan. During the war
he was ever conscious of the inequality of the means at his control;
but it was never his to complain or to utter a doubt; it was always
his to do. When, in the last campaign, he was beleaguered at
Petersburg, and painfully aware of the straits to which we were
reduced, he said: 'With my army in the mountains of Virginia, I could
carry on this war for twenty years longer.' His men exhausted, and his
supplies failing, he was unable to carry out his plans. An untoward
event caused him to anticipate the movement, and the Army of Northern
Virginia was overwhelmed. But, in the surrender, he anticipated
conditions that have not been fulfilled; he expected his army to be
respected, and his paroled soldiers to be allowed the enjoyments of
life and property. Whether these conditions have been fulfilled, let
others say.
"Here he now sleeps in the land he loved so well; and that land is not
Virginia only, for they do injustice to Lee who believe he fought only
for Virginia. He was ready to go anywhere, on any service, for the
good of his country; and his heart was as broad as the fifteen States
struggling for the principles that our forefathers fought for in the
Revolution of 1776. He is sleeping in the same soil with the thousands
who fought under the same flag, but first offered up their lives.
Here, the living are assembled to honor his memory, and there the
skeleton sentinels keep watch over his grave. This citizen, this
soldier, this great general, this true patriot, left behind him the
crowning glory of a true Christian. His Christianity ennobled him in
life, and affords us grounds for the belief that he is happy beyond
the grave.
"But, while we mourn the loss of the great and the true, drop we also
tears of sympathy with her who was his helpmeet--the noble woman
who, while her husband was in the field leading the army of the
Confederacy, though an invalid herself, passed the time in knitting
socks for the marching soldiers! A woman fit to be the mother of
heroes; and heroes are descended from her. Mourning with her, we can
only offer the consolation of a Christian. Our loss is not his; but
he now enjoys the rewards of a life well spent, and a never-wavering
trust in a risen Saviour. This day we unite our words of sorrow with
those of the good and great throughout Christendom, for his fame
is gone over the water; his deeds will be remembered, and when the
monument we build shall have crumbled into dust, his virtues will
still live, a high model for the imitation of generations yet unborn."
We have given but a faint idea of the eloquent thoughts and chaste
oratory of the speaker. His words were heard with profound attention,
and received with frequent applause.
MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS.
Colonel C.S. Venable then presented the following report of the
Committee on Resolutions:
"_Whereas_, It is a high and holy duty, as well as a noble privilege,
to perpetuate the honors of those who have displayed eminent virtues
and performed great achievements, that they may serve as incentives
and examples to the latest generation of their countrymen, and
attest the reverential admiration and affectionate regard of their
compatriots; and--
"_Whereas_, This duty and privilege devolve on all who love and admire
General Robert E. Lee throughout this country and the world, and in
an especial manner upon those who followed him in the field, or who
fought in the same cause, who shared in his glories, partook of his
trials, and were united with him in the same sorrows and adversity,
who were devoted to him in war by the baptism of fire and blood, and
bound to him in peace by the still higher homage due to the rare and
grand exhibition of a character pure and lofty and gentle and true,
under all changes of fortune, and serene amid the greatest disasters:
therefore, be it
"_Resolved_, That we favor an association to erect a monument at
Richmond to the memory of Robert E. Lee, as an enduring testimonial of
our love and respect, and devotion to his fame.
"_Resolved_, That, while donations will be gladly received from all
who recognize in the excellences of General Lee's character an honor
and an encouragement to our common humanity, and an abiding hope
that coming generations may be found to imitate his virtues, it is
desirable that every Confederate soldier and sailor should make some
contribution, however small, to the proposed monument.
"_Resolved_, That, for the purpose of securing efficiency and
dispatch in the erection of the monument, an executive committee of
seventy-five, with a president, secretary, treasurer, auditor, etc.,
be appointed, to invite and collect subscriptions, to procure designs
for said monument, to select the best, to provide for the organization
of central executive committees in other States, which may serve
as mediums of communication between the executive committee of the
Association and the local associations of these States.
"_Resolved_, That we respectfully invite the ladies of the Hollywood
Association to lend us their assistance and coöperation in the
collection of subscriptions.
"_Resolved_, That we cordially approve of the local monument now
proposed to be erected by other associations at Atlanta, and at
Lexington, his last home, whose people were so closely united with him
in the last sad years of his life.
"_Resolved_, That, while we cordially thank the Governor and
Legislature of Virginia, for the steps they have taken to do honor to
the memory of General Lee, yet in deference to the wishes of his loved
and venerated widow, with whom we mourn, we will not discuss the
question of the most fitting resting-place for his ever-glorious
remains, but will content ourselves with expressing the earnest desire
and hope that at some future proper time they will be committed to the
charge of this Association."
Generals John S. Preston, John B. Gordon, Henry A. Wise, and William
Henry Preston, and Colonels Robert E. Withers and Charles Marshall,
delivered eloquent and appropriate speeches, and argued that Richmond
is the proper place for the final interment of the remains of General
Lee.
The resolutions were adopted, and the meeting adjourned.
COLUMBIA, S.C.
At a meeting in this city the following remarks were made by--
GENERAL WADE HAMPTON.
"_Fellow-Citizens_: We are called together to-day by an announcement
which will cause profound sorrow throughout the civilized world, and
which comes to us bearing the additional grief of a personal and
private bereavement. The foremost man in all the world is no more;
and, as that news is carried by the speed of lightning through every
town, village, and hamlet of this land which he loved so well,
and among those people who loved and honored and venerated him so
profoundly, every true heart in the stricken South will feel that the
country has lost its pride and glory, and that the citizens of that
country have lost a father. I dare not venture to speak of him as I
feel. Nor do we come to eulogize him. Not only wherever the English
language is spoken, but wherever civilization extends, the sorrow--a
part at least of the sorrow--we feel will be felt, and more eloquent
tongues than mine will tell the fame and recount the virtues of Robert
E. Lee. We need not come to praise him. We come only to express our
sympathy, our grief, our bereavement. We come not to mourn him, for we
know that it is well with him. We come only to extend our sympathy to
those who are bereaved.
"Now that he is fallen, I may mention what I have never spoken of
before, to show you not only what were the feelings that actuated him
in the duty to which his beloved countrymen called him, but what noble
sentiments inspired him when he saw the cause for which he had been
fighting so long about to perish. Just before the surrender, after a
night devoted to the most arduous duties, as one of his staff came
in to see him in the morning, he found him worn and weary and
disheartened, and the general said to him, 'How easily I could get rid
of this and be at rest! I have only to ride along the line, and
all will be over. But,' said he--and there spoke the Christian
patriot--'it is our duty to _live_, for what will become of the women
and children of the South if we are not here to protect them?' That
same spirit of duty which had actuated him through all the perils and
all the hardships of that unequalled conflict which he had waged so
heroically, that same high spirit of duty told him that he must live
to show that he was great--greater, if that were possible, in peace
than in war; live to teach the people whom he had before led to
victory how to bear defeat; live to show what a great and good man can
accomplish; live to set an example to his people for all time; live to
bear, if nothing else, his share of the sorrows, and the afflictions,
and the troubles, which had come upon his people. He is now at rest;
and surely we of the South can say of him, as we say of his great
exemplar, the 'Father of his Country,' that 'he was first in war,
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'"
BALTIMORE.
At a meeting of the officers and soldiers who served under General
Lee, held in this city on October 15th, a number of addresses were
made, which we are compelled to somewhat condense. That of Colonel
Marshall, General Lee's chief of staff, was as follows:
COLONEL CHARLES MARSHALL.
"In presenting the resolutions of the committee, I cannot refrain from
expressing the feelings inspired by the memories that crowd upon my
mind when I reflect that these resolutions are intended to express
what General Lee's surviving soldiers feel toward General Lee. The
committee are fully aware of their inability to do justice to the
sentiments that inspire the hearts of those for whom they speak. How
can we portray in words the gratitude, the pride, the veneration, the
anguish, that now fill the hearts of those who shared his victories
and his reverses, his triumphs and his defeats? How can we tell the
world what we can only feel ourselves? How can we give expression to
the crowding memories called forth by the sad event we are met to
deplore?
"We recall him as he appeared in the hour of victory, grand, imposing,
awe-inspiring, yet self-forgetful and humble. We recall the great
scenes of his triumph, when we hailed him victor on many a bloody
field, and when above the paeans of victory we listened with reverence
to his voice as he ascribed 'all glory to the Lord of hosts, from
whom all glories are.' We remember that grand magnanimity that never
stooped to pluck those meaner things that grew nearest the earth upon
the tree of victory, but which, with eyes turned toward the stars, and
hands raised toward heaven, gathered the golden fruits of mercy,
pity, and holy charity, that ripen on its topmost boughs beneath the
approving smile of the great God of battles. We remember the sublime
self-abnegation of Chancellorsville, when, in the midst of his
victorious legions, who, with the light of battle yet on their faces,
hailed him conqueror, he thought only of his great lieutenant lying
wounded on the field, and transferred to him all the honor of that
illustrious day.
"I will be pardoned, I am sure, for referring to an incident which
affords to my mind a most striking illustration of one of the grandest
features of his character. On the morning of May 3, 1863, as many of
you will remember, the final assault was made upon the Federal lines
at Chancellorsville. General Lee accompanied the troops in person, and
as they emerged from the fierce combat they had waged in 'the depths
of that tangled wilderness,' driving the superior forces of the enemy
before them across the open ground, he rode into their midst. The
scene is one that can never be effaced from the minds of those who
witnessed it. The troops were pressing forward with all the ardor and
enthusiasm of combat. The white smoke of musketry fringed the front of
the line of battle, while the artillery on the hills in the rear of
the infantry shook the earth with its thunder, and filled the air with
the wild shrieks of the shells that plunged into the masses of the
retreating foe. To add greater horror and sublimity to the scene, the
Chancellorsville House and the woods surrounding it were wrapped in
flames. In the midst of this awful scene, General Lee, mounted upon
that horse which we all remember so well, rode to the front of his
advancing battalions. His presence was the signal for one of those
uncontrollable outbursts of enthusiasm which none can appreciate
who have not witnessed them. The fierce soldiers, with their faces
blackened with the smoke of battle; the wounded, crawling with feeble
limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with
a common impulse. One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of
those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of
those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle and hailed
the presence of the victorious chief. He sat in the full realization
of all that soldiers dream of--triumph; and, as I looked upon him in
the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and
confidence in his army, had won, I thought it must have been from some
such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of the
gods. His first care was for the wounded of both armies, and he was
among the foremost at the burning mansion where some of them lay. But
at that moment, when the transports of his victorious troops were
drowning the roar of battle with acclamations, a note was brought to
him from General Jackson. It was brought to General Lee as he sat on
his horse near the Chancellorsville House, and, unable to open it with
his gauntleted hands, he passed it to me with directions to read it to
him. The note made no mention of the wound that General Jackson had
received, but congratulated General Lee upon the great victory. I
shall never forget the look of pain and anguish that passed over his
face as he listened. With a voice broken with emotion he bade me
say to General Jackson that the victory was his, and that the
congratulations were due to him. I know not how others may regard this
incident, but, for myself, as I gave expression to the thoughts of his
exalted mind, I forgot the genius that won the day in my reverence for
the generosity that refused its glory.
"There is one other incident to which I beg permission to refer, that
I may perfect the picture. On the 3d day of July, 1863, the last
assault of the Confederate troops upon the heights of Gettysburg
failed, and again General Lee was among his baffled and shattered
battalions as they sullenly retired from their brave attempt. The
history of that battle is yet to be written, and the responsibility
for the result is yet to be fixed. But there, with the painful
consciousness that his plans had been frustrated by others, and that
defeat and humiliation had overtaken his army, in the presence of his
troops he openly assumed the entire responsibility of the campaign and
of the lost battle. One word from him would have relieved him of this
responsibility, but that word he refused to utter until it could be
spoken without fear of doing the least injustice.
"Thus, my fellow-soldiers, I have presented to you our great commander
in the supreme moments of triumph and defeat. I cannot more strongly
illustrate his character. Has it been surpassed in history? Is there
another instance of such self-abnegation among men? The man rose
high above victory in one instance; and, harder still, the man rose
superior to disaster in the other. It was such incidents as these that
gave General Lee the absolute and undoubting confidence and affection
of his soldiers. Need I speak of the many exhibitions of that
confidence? You all remember them, my comrades. Have you not seen a
wavering line restored by the magic of his presence? Have you not seen
the few forget that they were fighting against the many, because he
was among the few?
"But I pass from the contemplation of his greatness in war, to look to
his example under the oppressive circumstances of final failure--to
look to that example to which it is most useful for us now to refer
for our guidance and instruction. When the attempt to establish the
Southern Confederacy had failed, and the event of the war seemed to
have established the indivisibility of the Federal Union, General Lee
gave his adhesion to the new order of things. His was no hollow truce;
but, with the pure faith and honor that marked every act of his
illustrious career, he immediately devoted himself to the restoration
of peace, harmony, and concord. He entered zealously into the subject
of education, believing, as he often declared, that popular education
is the only sure foundation of free government. He gave his earnest
support to all plans of internal improvements designed to bind more
firmly together the social and commercial interests of the country,
and among the last acts of his life was the effort to secure the
construction of a line of railway communication of incalculable
importance as a connecting link between the North and the South. He
devoted all his great energies to the advancement of the welfare of
his countrymen while shrinking from public notice, and sought to lay
deep and strong the foundations of government which it was supposed
would rise from the ruins of the old. But I need not repeat to you, my
comrades, the history of his life since the war. You have watched it
to its close, and you know how faithfully and truly he performed every
duty of his position. Let us take to heart the lesson of his bright
example. Disregarding all that malice may impute to us, with an eye
single to the faithful performance of our duties as American citizens,
and with an honest and sincere resolution to support with heart and
hand the honor, the safety, and the true liberties of our country, let
us invoke our fellow-citizens to forget the animosities of the past by
the side of this honored grave, and, 'joining hands around this royal
corpse, friends now, enemies no more, proclaim perpetual truce to
battle.'"
The following are among the resolutions:
"The officers, soldiers, and sailors, of the Southern Confederacy,
residing in Maryland, who served under General Lee, desiring to record
their grief for his death, their admiration for his exalted virtues,
and their affectionate veneration for his illustrious memory--
"_Resolved_, That, leaving with pride the name and fame of our
illustrious commander to the judgment of history, we, who followed
him through the trials, dangers, and hardships of a sanguinary and
protracted war; who have felt the inspiration of his genius and
valor in the time of trial; who have witnessed his magnanimity and
moderation in the hour of victory, and his firmness and fortitude in
defeat, claim the privilege of laying the tribute of our heart-felt
sorrow upon his honored grave.
"_Resolved_, That the confidence and admiration which his eminent
achievements deserved and received were strengthened by the noble
example of his constancy in adversity, and that we honored and revered
him in his retirement as we trusted and followed him on the field of
battle.
"_Resolved_, That, as a token of respect and sorrow, we will wear the
customary badge of mourning for thirty days.
"_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions and of the proceedings
of this meeting be transmitted to the family of our lamented chief."
On the 29th of October a meeting was held to appoint delegates to
represent the State of Maryland at the Richmond Lee Monumental
Convention. After some brief remarks by General I.R. Trimble, and the
adoption of resolutions constituting the Lee Monument Association of
Maryland, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson addressed the meeting as follows:
HON. REVERDY JOHNSON.
"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: I am here in compliance with the
request of many gentlemen present, and I not only willingly complied
with that request, but I am willing to do all I am able, to show my
appreciation of the character, civil and military, of Robert E. Lee.
It was my good fortune to know him before the Mexican War, in those
better days before the commencement of the sad struggle through which
we have recently passed. I saw in him every thing that could command
the respect and admiration of men, and I watched with peculiar
interest his course in the Mexican War. It was also my good fortune
to know the late Lieutenant-General Scott. In the commencement of
the struggle to which I have alluded, I occupied in Washington
the position of _quasi_ military adviser to him, and was, in that
capacity, intimately associated with him. I have heard him often
declare that the glorious and continued success which crowned our arms
in the war with Mexico was owing, in a large measure, to the skill,
valor, and undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee. He entertained for him
the warmest personal friendship, and it was his purpose to recommend
him as his successor in the event of his death or inability to
perform the duties of his high position. In April, 1861, after the
commencement of hostilities between the two great sections of our
country, General Lee, then lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the Army
of the United States, offered his resignation. I was with General
Scott when he was handed the letter of resignation, and I saw what
pain the fact caused him. While he regretted the step his most
valuable officer had taken, he never failed to say emphatically,
and over and over again, that he believed he had taken it from _an
imperative sense of duty_. He was also consoled by the belief that if
he was placed at the head of the armies of the then Confederation, he
would have in him a foeman in every way worthy of him, and one who
would conduct the war upon the highest principles of civilized
warfare, and that he would not suffer encroachments to be made upon
the rights of private property and the rights of unoffending citizens.
"Some may be surprised that I am here to eulogize Robert E. Lee. It is
well known that I did not agree with him in his political views. At
the beginning of the late war, and for many years preceding it, even
from the foundation of this Government, two great questions agitated
the greatest minds of this country. Many believed that the allegiance
of the citizen was due first to his State, and many were of the
opinion that, according to the true reading of the Constitution, a
State had no right to leave the Union and claim sovereign rights and
the perpetual allegiance of her citizens. I did not agree in the
first-named opinion, but I knew it was honestly entertained. I knew
men of the purest character, of the highest ability, and of the most
liberal and patriotic feelings, who conscientiously believed it. Now
the war is over, thank God! and to that thank I am sure this meeting
will respond, it is the duty of every citizen of this land to seek
to heal the wounds of the war, to forget past differences, and to
forgive, as far as possible, the faults to which the war gave rise. In
no other way can the Union be truly and permanently restored. We are
now together as a band of brothers. The soldiers of the Confederacy,
headed by the great chief we now mourn, have expressed their
willingness to abide by the issue of the contest. What a spectacle to
the world! After years of military devastation, with tens of thousands
dead on her battle-fields, with the flower of her children slain, with
her wealth destroyed, her commerce swept away, her agricultural and
mechanical pursuits almost ruined, the South yielded. The North,
victorious and strong, could not forget what she owed to liberty
and human rights. We may well swear now that as long as liberty is
virtuous we will be brothers.
"Robert E. Lee is worthy of all praise. As a man, he was peerless; as
a soldier, he had no equal and no superior; as a humane and Christian
soldier, he towers high in the political horizon. You cannot imagine
with what delight, when I had the honor to represent this country
at the court of Great Britain, I heard the praises of his fame and
character which came from soldiers and statesmen. I need not speak
of the comparative merits of General Lee and the Union generals who
opposed him; this is not the place or time for a discussion of their
respective successes and defeats; but I may say that, as far as I was
able to judge of the sentiments of the military men of Great Britain,
they thought none of the Union officers superior to General Robert E.
Lee. Their admiration for him was not only on account of his skill on
the battle-field, and the skilful manner with which he planned and
executed his campaigns, but the humane manner in which he performed
his sad duty. They alluded specially to his conduct when invading the
territory of his enemy--his restraint upon his men, telling them that
the honor of the army depended upon the manner of conducting the war
in the enemy's country--and his refusal to resort to retaliatory
measures. I know that great influences were brought to bear upon him,
when he invaded Pennsylvania, to induce him to consent to extreme
measures. His answer, however, was, 'No; if I suffer my army to pursue
the course recommended, I cannot invoke the blessing of God upon my
arms.' He would not allow his troops to destroy private property or to
violate the rights of the citizens. When the necessities of his army
compelled the taking of commissary stores, by his orders his officers
paid for them in Confederate money at its then valuation. No burning
homesteads illumined his march, no shivering and helpless children
were turned out of their homes to witness their destruction by the
torch. With him all the rules of civilized war, having the higher
sanction of God, were strictly observed. The manly fortitude with
which he yielded at Appomattox to three times his numbers showed that
he was worthy of the honors and the fame the South had given him.
This is not the first time since the termination of the war I have
expressed admiration and friendship for Robert E. Lee. When I heard
that he was about to be prosecuted in a Virginia court for the alleged
crime of treason, I wrote to him at once, and with all my heart, that
if he believed I could be of any service to him, professionally, I
was at his command. All the ability I possess, increased by more
than fifty years of study and experience, would have been cheerfully
exerted to have saved him, for in saving him I believe I would have
been saving the honor of my country. I received a characteristic reply
in terms of friendship and grateful thanks. He wrote that he did not
think the prosecution would take place. Hearing, however, some time
after, that the prosecution would commence at Richmond, I went at once
to that city and saw his legal adviser, Hon. William H. McFarland, one
of the ablest men of the bar of Virginia. Mr. McFarland showed me
a copy of a letter from General Lee to General Grant, enclosing an
application for a pardon which he desired General Grant to present to
the President, but telling him not to present it if any steps had been
taken for his prosecution, as he was willing to stand the test. He
wrote that he had understood by the terms of surrender at Appomattox
that he and all his officers and men were to be protected. That
letter, I am glad to say, raised General Lee higher in my esteem.
General Grant at once replied, and he showed his reply to me. He wrote
that he had seen the President, and protested against any steps being
taken against General Lee, and had informed him that he considered his
honor and the honor of the nation pledged to him. The President
became satisfied, and no proceedings were ever taken. General Grant
transmitted to the President the application of General Lee for
pardon, indorsed with his most earnest approval. No pardon was
granted. He did not need it here, and, when he appears before that
great tribunal before which we must all be called, he will find he has
no account to settle there. No soldier who followed General Lee could
have felt more grief and sympathy at his grave than I would, could I
have been present upon the mournful occasion of his burial. I lamented
his loss as a private loss, and still more as a public loss. I knew
that his example would continue to allay the passions aroused by the
war, and which I was not surprised were excited by some acts in that
war. I love my country; I am jealous of her honor. I cherish her good
name, and I am proud of the land of my birth. I forbear to criticise
the lives and characters of her high officers and servants, but I can
say with truth that, during the late war, the laws of humanity were
forgotten, and the higher orders of God were trodden under foot.
"The resolutions need no support which human lips can by human
language give. Their subject is their support. The name of Lee appeals
at once, and strongly, to every true heart in this land and throughout
the world. Let political partisans, influenced by fanaticism and the
hope of political plunder, find fault with and condemn us. They will
be forgotten when the name of Lee will be resplendent with immortal
glory.
"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in the course of Nature my career upon
earth must soon terminate. God grant that when the day of my death
comes, I may look up to Heaven with that confidence and faith which
the life and character of Robert E. Lee gave him! He died trusting in
God, as a good man, with a good life and a pure conscience. He was
consoled with the knowledge that the religion of Christ had ordered
all his ways, and he knew that the verdict of God upon the account he
would have to render in heaven would be one of judgment seasoned with
mercy. He had a right to believe that when God passed judgment upon
the account of his life, though He would find him an erring human
being, He would find virtue enough and religious faith enough to save
him from any other verdict than that of 'Well done, good and faithful
servant.' The monument will be raised; and when it is raised many a
man will visit Richmond to stand beside it, to do reverence to the
remains it may cover, and to say, 'Here lie the remains of one of the
noblest men who ever lived or died in America.'"
HON. GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN
"_Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen_: The able and eloquent gentlemen who
have preceded me have left but little for me to say. I rise, however,
to express my hearty assent to the resolutions. Their broad and
liberal views are worthy of the great and good man whose virtues and
fame we seek to commemorate. He has passed away from earth, and our
blame or censure is nothing to him now. The most eloquent eulogies
that human lips can utter, and the loftiest monuments that human hands
can build, cannot affect him now. But it is a satisfaction to us
to know that expressions of the love for him which lives in every
Southern heart--ay, in many a Northern heart--were heard long before
his death, and that honor shed noble lustre around the last years of
his life. He was the representative of a lost cause; he had sheathed
his sword forever; he had surrendered his army to superior numbers;
he was broken in fortune and in health, and was only president of a
Virginia college, yet he was one of the foremost men of all the world.
"It has been said of General Lee, as it has been said of Washington,
that he was deficient in genius. His character was so complete that
what would have seemed evidences of genius with other men, were lost
in the combination of his character and mind. He was always, and
especially in every great crisis, a leader among men. During the four
years of his education at West Point he did not receive a single
reprimand. As a cavalry-officer, wherever he went he was a marked man;
and when General Scott made his wonderful march to the capital of
Mexico, Captain Lee was his right arm. At the commencement of the late
war, though only a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, he was offered the
command of the armies of the United States. What a prize for ambition!
Fortune, fame, and honors, awaited him. Where would he have been
to-day? Probably in the presidential chair of this great nation. But
he rejected all to take his chance with his own people, and to unite
with them in their resistance to the vast numbers and resources which
he knew the North was able to bring against them. There is nothing
more remarkable in the annals of warfare than the success with which
General Lee defeated for years the armies of the United States.
Consider the six-days' battles around Richmond; the second battle of
Manassas; the battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg;
the wonderful contest at Chancellorsville; then again the remarkable
battle of the Wilderness, in which it has been said by Federal
authority that General Lee actually killed as many men as he had under
his command; the defence at Cold Harbor, the prolonged defence of
Richmond and Petersburg, and the admirably-conducted retreat with but
a handful before an immense army. Well has he been spoken of as
'the incomparable strategist.' Did any man ever fight against more
desperate odds or resources?
"But not merely as a great general is General Lee to be admired. He
claims our admiration as a great man--great in adversity. I think
there is nothing more admirable in all his life than his conduct in
assuming the sole responsibility at Gettysburg. In the midst of defeat
Lee was calm, unmoved, showing no fear where despair would have been
in the heart of any other general, and saying to his officers and men,
'The fault is all mine.' Let the monument be raised, not merely by
soldiers of General Lee, but by all men, no matter of what political
feelings, who appreciate and honor that which is manly, great, and
patriotic. The monument at Richmond will be the resort of pilgrims
from the North as well as from the South, and the grave of Lee will be
second only in the hearts of the people to the grave of Washington."
LEXINGTON, KY.
At the meeting at Lexington, resolutions were adopted similar to
those already given. The meeting was addressed by General Preston and
others.
GENERAL W. PRESTON.
"I am permitted to accompany the report with a few remarks, although I
deem it unnecessary to use one word of commendation on the character
of such a man. These resolutions are no doubt very short, but they
will testify the feelings of every right-minded, noble-hearted man, no
matter what may have been his opinions as to the past. Every true
and generous soul feels that these resolutions are expressive of the
sorrow entertained by the whole country. We speak not only the common
voice of America, but of the world at this hour. It is no ordinary
case of eulogy over an ordinary being, but over one who was the man
of the century; a man who, by mighty armies commanded with admirable
skill; by great victories achieved, and yet never stained by
exultation; by mighty misfortunes met with a calm eye, and submitted
to with all the dignity that belongs to elevated intelligence, and by
his simplicity and grandeur, challenged the admiration of civilized
mankind; and still more remarkable, after yielding to the greatest
vicissitudes that the world ever saw, resigned himself to the
improvement of the youth of the country, to the last moment of his
mortal life, looking to the glorious life which he contemplated beyond
the tomb. I must confess that, notwithstanding the splendor and glory
of his career, I envy him the dignity of the pacific close of
his life. Nothing more gentle, nothing more great, nothing more
uncomplaining, has ever been recorded in the history of the world. By
returning to Napoleon, we find he murmured, we find all the marks
of mortality and mortal anger; but in Lee we find a man perfect in
Christian principles--dignified, yet simple.
"I knew him first when he was a captain. I was then a young man
connected with one of the regiments of this State, in Mexico, the
Fourth Kentucky; and when I first saw him he was a man of extreme
physical beauty, remarkable for his great gentleness of manner, and
for his freedom from all military and social vices. At that time,
General Scott, by common consent, had fixed upon General Lee as the
man who would make his mark if ever the country needed his services.
He never swore an oath, he never drank, he never wrangled, but there
was not a single dispute between gentlemen that his voice was not more
potent than any other; his rare calmness, serenity, and dignity,
were above all. When the war came on, he followed his native State,
Virginia, for he was the true representative of the great Virginia
family at Washington. He was the real type of his race. He was
possessed of all the most perfect points of Washington's character,
with all the noble traits of his own.
"Scott maintained that Lee was the greatest soldier in the army. His
discerning eye compared men; and I remember when, in some respects, I
thought General Lee's military education had not fitted him for the
great talents which he was destined to display. I remember when
General Scott made use of these remarkable words: 'I tell you one
thing, if I was on my death-bed, and knew there was a battle to be
fought for the liberties of my country, and the President was to say
to me, "Scott, who shall command?" I tell you that, with my dying
breath, I should say Robert Lee. Nobody but Robert Lee! Robert Lee,
and nobody but Lee!' That impressed me very much, because, at the
beginning of the campaign, Lee was not prosperous; and why? because
he was building up his men with that science which he possessed. His
great qualities were discerned not after his remarkable campaigns;
but, long before it, his name was regarded with that respected
preëminence to which it did rise under that campaign. And I now say,
and even opposite officers will admit, that no man has displayed
greater power, more military ability, or more noble traits of
character, than Robert E. Lee. Therefore it is that America has lost
much. Europe will testify this as well as ourselves in this local
community. Europe will weigh this, but after-ages will weigh him with
Moltke and Bazaine, with the Duke of Magenta, and with all military
men, and, in my judgment, those ages will say that the greatest fame
and ability belonged to Robert Lee. But let us look to his moral
character, to which I have already alluded. Through his whole life he
had been a fervent and simple Christian; throughout his campaigns he
was a brave and splendid soldier. If you ask of his friends, you will
find that they adore him. If you ask his character from his enemies,
you will find that they respect him, and respect is the involuntary
tribute which friend and enemy alike have to pay to elevated worth;
and, to-day, as the bells toll, their sounds will vibrate with the
tenderest feelings through every noble heart. Public confessions of
his worth and his greatness will be made through thousands of the
towns and cities throughout this broad land; and, even where they are
silent, monitors within will tell that a great spirit hath fled. This
secret monitor will tell that a great and good man has passed away,
who has left, in my opinion, no equal behind him."
REV. DR. HENDERSON.
"Since the announcement of the death of Robert E. Lee, I have been
momentarily expecting the appearance of a call to pay some tribute to
his splendid memory; but, if a notice had been given of this meeting,
it altogether escaped my attention, else I would have been here freely
and voluntarily. If I am a stranger in Lexington, and my lot has been
cast here only during the last three weeks, yet I am happy that my
fellow-citizens here have paid me such great respect as to call on me,
on such an occasion as the present, to testify to the greatness and
glory of General Robert E. Lee. Some public calamity is required to
bring us into one great brotherhood. 'One touch of Nature makes the
whole world kin.' Though you are all strangers to me, yet, in that
common sympathy which we all feel, we are mourners together at the
bier of departed worth.
"It does not become one of my profession to take any partisan view of
the life of such a man, although it was my fortune to follow the same
flag which he carried to victory upon so many fields. When it was
furled, it was done with such calm magnificence as to win the
admiration of his enemies and of the world. Yet I do not stand here to
make any reference to that cause which has passed from the theatre of
earth's activity, and taken its place only in history. But I do claim
the right, from the stand-point which I occupy, of pointing to a man
worthy of the emulation of all who love the true nobility of humanity;
a man who was magnanimous to his enemies; who would weep at the
calamities of his foes; who, throughout the sanguinary struggle, could
preserve in himself the fullest share of human sympathy. History will
challenge the world to produce a single instance in which this
great man ever wantonly inflicted a blow, or ever wilfully imposed
punishment upon any of his captives, or ever pushed his victory upon
an enemy to gain unnecessary results--a man who, in all his campaigns,
showed the same bright example to all the battalions that followed the
lead of his sword. And now, since that flag which he carried has been
furled, what a magnificent example has been presented to the world! It
was said of Washington that he was first in war and first in peace,
but, in the latter regard, Robert E. Lee showed more greatness than
even the Father of his Country. He was struck down; the sun that had
brightened up the horizon of hopes sank in dark eclipse to set in
the shadow of disappointment. Calm and magnificent in the repose of
conscious strength, he felt that he had lived and struggled for a
principle that was dear to him. Though dead, it only remained for him
to be our example to the stricken and suffering people for whom he
labored, and to show how magnanimously a brave and true Christian
could act even when all he held sacred and dear was shattered by the
hand of calamity. And, at the close of his career, he devoted his
splendid capacity to the culture of the minds of his country's
youth. He came down from the summit on which he had won the world's
admiration, to the steady, regular duties of the school-room, to take
his place in the vestry of a Christian church, and to administer the
affairs of a country parish in the interest of Christianity. A man
who, by his dignity and simplicity, preserved the constant admiration
of his enemies, without even giving offence to his friends, such a man
should receive a niche in the Pantheon of Fame.
"He stood in that great struggle of which as a star he was the leader,
of unclouded brightness, drawing over its mournful history a splendor
which is reflected from every sentence of its chronicle. He was an
example of a man, who, though branded because of defeat, still, by
his exalted character, gave a dignity and nobility to a cause which,
doubtless, is forever dead, yet still is rendered immortal by the
achievements of Robert E. Lee's sword and character."
NEW YORK.
"Services were held last evening," says a New-York journal, "in the
large hall of the Cooper Institute, in commemoration of the life and
character of the late General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate States
Army, with especial reference to his civic and Christian virtues. The
call for the meeting stated that, although it was inaugurated by the
Southern residents in the city of New York, it was 'yet to be regarded
as in no sense born of partisan feeling, but solely from the desire
to do honor to the memory of a great and good man--an illustrious
American.' The attendance therefore of all, without reference to
section or nationality, was cordially invited.
"There was no special decoration of the hall. Grafulla's band was in
attendance, and, prior to the opening of the meeting, played several
fine dirges. The choir of St. Stephen's Church also appeared upon the
platform and opened the proceedings by singing 'Come, Holy Spirit.'
The choir consisted of Madame de Luzan, Mrs. Jennie Kempton, Dr.
Bauos, and Herr Weinlich. Mr. H.B. Denforth presided at the piano.
"Among the gentlemen present on the platform were General Imboden,
ex-Governor Lowe, General Walker, Colonel Hunter, General Daniel W.
Adams, Dr. Van Avery, Mr. M.B. Fielding, Colonel Fellows, General
Cabell, Colonel T.L. Gnead, Mr. McCormick, Mr. T.A. Hoyt, etc.
"Mr. M.B. Fielding called the meeting to order, and requested the Rev.
Dr. Carter to offer prayer.
"The Hon. John E. Ward was then called to preside, and delivered
the following address--all the marked passages of which were loudly
applauded:
"We meet to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of one whom
the whole South revered with more than filial affection. The kind
manifestations of sympathy expressed through the press of this great
metropolis, this assemblage, the presence of these distinguished men,
who join with us this evening, testify that the afflicted voice of
his bereaved people has charmed down with sweet persuasion the angry
passions kindled by the conflict in which he was their chosen leader.
This is not the occasion either for an elaborate review of his life or
a eulogy of his character. I propose to attempt neither. Born of one
of the oldest and most distinguished families of our country--one
so renowned in the field and in the cabinet that it seemed almost
impossible to give brighter lustre to it--General Robert E. Lee
rendered that family name even more illustrious, and by his genius and
virtues extended its fame to regions of the globe where it had never
before been mentioned. There is no cause for envy or hatred left
now. His soldiers adored him most, not in the glare of his brilliant
victories, but in the hour of his deepest humiliation, when his last
great battle had been fought and lost--when the government for which
he had struggled was crumbling about him--when his staff, asking, in
despair, 'What can now be done?' he gave that memorable reply, 'It
were strange indeed if human virtue were not at least as strong as
human calamity.' This is the key to his life--the belief that trials
and strength, suffering and consolation, come alike from God.
Obedience to duty was ever his ruling principle. Infallibility is not
claimed for him in the exercise of his judgment in deciding what duty
was. But what he believed duty to command, that he performed without
thought of how he would appear in the performance. In the judgment of
many he may have mistaken his duty when he decided that it did not
require him to draw his sword 'against his home, his kindred, and his
children.' But Lee was no casuist or politician; he was a soldier.
'All that he would do highly that would he do holily.' He taught the
world that the Christian and the gentleman could be united in the
warrior. It was not when in pomp and power--when he commanded
successful legions and led armies to victories--but when in sorrow
and privation he assumed the instruction and guidance of the youth of
Virginia, laying the only true foundation upon which a republic can
rest, the Christian education of its youth--that he reaped the rich
harvest of a people's love. Goodness was the chief attribute of Lee's
greatness. Uniting in himself the rigid piety of the Puritan with the
genial, generous impulses of the cavalier, he won the love of all with
whom he came in contact, from the thoughtless child, with whom it was
ever his delight to sport, to the great captain of the age, with whom
he fought all the hard-won battles of Mexico. Some may believe that
the world has given birth to warriors more renowned, to rulers more
skilled in statecraft, but all must concede that a purer, nobler man
never lived. What successful warrior or ruler, in ancient or modern
times, has descended to his grave amid such universal grief and
lamentation as our Lee? Caesar fell by the hands of his own beloved
Brutus, because, by his tyranny, he would have enslaved Rome.
Frederick the Great, the founder of an empire, became so hated of men,
and learned so to despise them, that he ordered his 'poor carcass,' as
he called it, to be buried with his favorite dogs at Potsdam. Napoleon
reached his giddy height by paths which Lee would have scorned to
tread, only to be hurled from his eminence by all the powers of Europe
which his insatiate ambition had combined against him. Wellington, the
conqueror of Napoleon, became the leader of a political party, and
lived to need the protection of police from a mob. Even our own
Washington, whose character was as high above that of the mere warrior
and conqueror as is the blue vault of heaven above us to the low earth
we tread beneath our feet, was libelled in life and slandered in
death. Such were the fates of the most successful captains and
warriors of the world. For four long years Lee occupied a position not
less prominent than that of the most distinguished among them. The
eyes of the civilized world watched his every movement and scanned his
every motive. His cause was lost. He was unsuccessful. Yet he lived
to illustrate to the world how, despite failure and defeat, a soldier
could command honor and love from those for whom he struggled, and
admiration and respect from his foes, such as no success had ever
before won for warrior, prince, or potentate. And, when his life was
ended, the whole population of the South, forming one mighty funeral
procession, followed him to his grave. His obsequies modestly
performed by those most tenderly allied to him, he sleeps in the bosom
of the land he loved so well. His spotless fame will gather new vigor
and freshness from the lapse of time, and the day is not distant when
that fame will be claimed, not as the property of a section, but as
the heritage of a united people. His soul, now forever freed from
earth's defilements, basks in the sunlight of God.' _Pro tumulo
ponas patriam, pro tegmine caelum, sidera pro facibus, pro lachrymis
maria_.'" (Great applause.)
GENERAL IMBODEN
Rose and said:
"It is with emotions of infinite grief I rise to perform one of
the saddest duties of my life. The committee who have arranged the
ceremonies on this occasion, deemed it expedient and proper to select
a Virginian as their organ to present to this large assembly of the
people of New York a formal preamble and resolutions, which give
expression to their feelings in regard to the death of General Robert
E. Lee. This distinction has been conferred by the committee upon me;
and I shall proceed to read their report, without offering to submit
any remarks as to the feelings excited in my own heart by this,
mournful intelligence:"
RESOLUTIONS.
"In this great metropolitan city of America, where men of every clime
and of all nationalities mingle in the daily intercourse of pleasure
and of business, no great public calamity can befall any people in the
world without touching a sympathetic chord in the hearts of thousands.
When, therefore, tidings reached us that General Robert E. Lee, of
Virginia, was dead, and that the people of that and all the other
Southern States of the Union were stricken with grief, the great
public heart of New York was moved with a generous sympathy, which
found kindly and spontaneous expression through the columns of the
city press of every shade of opinion.
"All differences of the past, all bitter memories, all the feuds
that have kept two great sections of our country in angry strife and
controversy for so long, have been forgotten in the presence of the
awe-inspiring fact that no virtues, no deeds, no honors, nor any
position, can save any member of the human family from the common lot
of all.
"The universal and profound grief of our Southern countrymen is
natural and honorable alike to themselves and to him whom they mourn,
and is respected throughout the world; for Robert E. Lee was allied
and endeared to them by all the most sacred ties that can unite an
individual to a community. He was born and reared in their midst,
and shared their local peculiarities, opinions, and traditional
characteristics; and his preëminent abilities and exalted personal
integrity and Christian character made him, by common consent, their
leader and representative in a great national conflict in which they
had staked life, fortune, and honor; and in Virginia his family was
coeval with the existence of the State, and its name was emblazoned
upon those bright pages of her early civil and military annals which
record the patriotic deeds of Washington and his compeers.
"By no act of his did he ever forfeit or impair the confidence thus
reposed in him by his own peculiar people; and when he had, through
years of heroic trial and suffering, done all that mortal man could
do in discharge of the high trust confided by them to his hands,
and failed, he bowed with dignified submission to the decree of
Providence; and from the day he gave his parole at Appomattox to the
hour of his death, he so lived and acted as to deprive enmity of its
malignity, and became to his defeated soldiers and countrymen a bright
example of unqualified obedience to the laws of the land, and of
support to its established government. Nay, more. With a spirit of
Christian and affectionate duty to his impoverished and suffering
people, and with a high estimate of the importance of mental and moral
culture to a generation of youth whose earlier years were attended by
war's rough teachings, he went from the tented field and the command
of armies to the quiet shades of a scholastic institution in the
secluded valleys of his own native Virginia, and entered with all the
earnestness of his nature upon the duties of instruction, and there
spent the closing years of his life in training the minds and hearts
of young men from all parts of the country for the highest usefulness
'in their day and generation.' By these pursuits, and his exemplary
and unobtrusive life since the close of the great war in America, he
won the respect and admiration of the enlightened and the good of the
whole world. It is meet and natural, therefore, that his own people
should bewail his death as a sore personal bereavement to each one of
them. Those of us here assembled who were his soldiers, friends, and
supporters, sharing all the trials and many of the responsibilities of
that period of his life which brought him so prominently before the
world, honored and trusted him then, have loved and admired him, have
been guided by his example since; and now that he is dead, we should
be unworthy of ourselves, and unworthy to be called his countrymen,
did we not feel and express the same poignant grief which now afflicts
those among whom he lived and died.
"Those of us who were not his soldiers, friends, and supporters, when
war raged throughout the land, but who have nevertheless met here
to-day with those who were our enemies then, but are now our friends
and countrymen, and appreciate with them the character of Lee, and
admire his rare accomplishments as an American citizen, whose fame and
name are the property of the nation, we all unite over his hallowed
sepulchre in an earnest prayer that old divisions may be composed, and
that a complete and perfect reconciliation of all estrangements may be
effected at the tomb, where all alike, in a feeling of common
humanity and universal Christian brotherhood, may drop their tears of
heart-felt sorrow.
"Therefore, without regard to our former relations toward each other,
but meeting as Americans by birth or adoption, and in the broadest
sense of national unity, and in the spirit above indicated, to do
honor to a great man and Christian gentleman who has gone down to the
grave, we do
"_Resolve_, That we have received with feelings of profound sorrow
intelligence of the death of General Robert E. Lee. We can and do
fully appreciate the grief of our Southern countrymen at the death
of one so honored by and so dear to them, and we tender to them this
expression of our sympathy, with the assurance that we feel in
the contemplation of so sad an event that we are and ought to be,
henceforth and forever, one great and harmonious national family,
sharing on all occasions each others' joys and sympathizing in each
others' sorrows.
"_Resolved_, That a copy of the foregoing preamble, and these
resolutions, signed by the president and secretary, be transmitted to
the Governor of Virginia, with a request that the same be preserved in
the archives of the State; and that another copy be sent to the family
of General Lee.
"J.D. IMBODEN,
Ex. NORTON,
JOHN MITCHEL,
C.K. MARSHALL,
T.L. SNEAD,
NORMAN D. SAMPSON,
Wm. H. APPLETON,
_Committee on Resolutions_"
"On motion, the resolutions were unanimously adopted by a standing and
silent vote, which was followed by a spontaneous outburst of hearty
applause."
We have given but a small portion of the addresses which were called
forth by this national calamity, and these, no doubt, have suffered
injustice by imperfect reporting. But we have shown, as we wished to
show, the standard by which our people estimate an heroic character,
and how the South loves and honors the memory of her great leader.
A few extracts from the English press will show the feeling in that
country:
THE PALL MALL GAZETTE.
"Even amid the turmoil of the great European struggle, the
intelligence from America announcing that General Robert E. Lee is
dead, will be received with deep sorrow by many in this country, as
well as by his followers and fellow-soldiers in America. It is but
a few years since Robert E. Lee ranked among the great men of the
present time. He was the able soldier of the Southern Confederacy, the
bulwark of her northern frontier, the obstacle to the advance of the
Federal armies, and the leader who twice threatened, by the capture
of Washington, to turn the tide of success, and to accomplish a
revolution which would have changed the destiny of the United States.
Six years passed by, and then we heard that he was dying at an obscure
town in Virginia, where, since the collapse of the Confederacy, he had
been acting as a school-master. When, at the head of the last eight
thousand of his valiant army, the remnants which battle, sickness, and
famine had left him, he delivered up his sword to General Grant at
Appomattox Court-House, his public career ended; he passed away from
men's thoughts; and few in Europe cared to inquire the fate of
the general whose exploits had aroused the wonder of neutrals and
belligerents, and whose noble character had excited the admiration of
even the most bitter of his political enemies. If, however, success is
not always to be accounted as the sole foundation of renown, General
Lee's life and career deserve to be held in reverence by all who
admire the talents of a general and the noblest qualities of a
soldier. His family were well known in Virginia. Descended from the
Cavaliers who first colonized that State, they had produced more than
one man who fought with distinction for their country. They were
allied by marriage to Washington, and, previous to the recent war,
were possessed of much wealth; General (then Colonel) Robert Lee
residing, when not employed with his regiment, at Arlington Heights,
one of the most beautiful places in the neighborhood of Washington.
When the civil war first broke out, he was a colonel in the United
States Army, who had served with distinction in Mexico, and was
accounted among the best of the American officers. To him, as to
others, the difficult choice presented itself, whether to take the
side of his State, which had joined in the secession of the South, or
to support the central Government. It is said that Lee debated the
matter with General Scott, then Commander-in-chief, that both agreed
that their first duty lay with their State, but that the former only
put the theory into practice.
"It was not until the second year of the war that Lee came prominently
forward, when, at the indecisive battle of Fair Oaks, in front of
Richmond, General Johnston having been wounded, he took command of the
army; and subsequently drove McClellan, with great loss, to the banks
of the James River. From that time he became the recognized leader
of the Confederate army of Virginia. He repulsed wave after wave of
invasion, army after army being hurled against him only to be thrown
back, beaten and in disorder. The Government at Washington were kept
in constant alarm by the near vicinity of his troops, and witnessed
more than once the entry into their intrenchments of a defeated
and disorganized rabble, which a few days previous had left them a
confident host. Twice he entered the Northern States at the head of
a successful army, and twice indecisive battles alone preserved from
destruction the Federal Government, and turned the fortune of the war.
He impressed his character on those who acted under him. Ambition for
him had no charms, duty alone was his guide. His simplicity of life
checked luxury and display among his officers, while his disregard of
hardships silenced the murmurs of his harassed soldiery. By the troops
he was loved as a father, as well as admired as a general; and his
deeply-religious character impressed itself on all who were brought
in contact with him, and made itself felt through the ranks of the
Virginian army. It is said that, during four years of war, he never
slept in a house, but in winter and summer shared the hardships of his
soldiers. Such was the man who, in mature age, at a period of life
when few generals have acquired renown, fought against overwhelming
odds for the cause which he believed just. He saw many of his bravest
generals and dearest friends fall around him, but, although constantly
exposed to fire, escaped without a wound.
"The battles which prolonged and finally decided the issue of the
contest are now little more than names. Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, are forgotten in Europe by all
excepting those who study recent wars as lessons for the future, and
would collect from the deeds of other armies experience which they
may apply to their own. To them the boldness of Lee's tactics at
Chancellorsville will ever be a subject of admiration; while even
those who least sympathize with his cause will feel for the general
who saw the repulse of Longstreet's charge at Gettysburg, and beheld
the failure of an attempt to convert a defensive war into one of
attack, together with the consequent abandonment of the bold stroke
which he had hoped would terminate the contest. Quietly he rallied
the broken troops; taking all the blame on himself, he encouraged
the officers, dispirited by the reverse, and in person formed up the
scattered detachments. Again, when Fortune had turned against the
Confederacy, when overwhelming forces from all sides pressed back
her defenders, Lee for a year held his ground with a
constantly-diminishing army, fighting battle after battle in the
forests and swamps around Richmond. No reverses seemed to dispirit
him, no misfortune appeared to ruffle his calm, brave temperament.
Only at last, when he saw the remnants of his noble army about to
be ridden down by Sheridan's cavalry, when eight thousand men,
half-starved and broken with fatigue, were surrounded by the net which
Grant and Sherman had spread around them, did he yield; his fortitude
for the moment gave way; he took farewell of his soldiers, and, giving
himself up as a prisoner, retired a ruined man into private life,
gaining his bread by the hard and uncongenial work of governing
Lexington College.
"When political animosity has calmed down, and when Americans can look
back on those years of war with feelings unbiassed by party strife,
then will General Lee's character be appreciated by all his countrymen
as it now is by a part, and his name will be honored as that of one of
the noblest soldiers who have ever drawn a sword in a cause which they
believed just, and at the sacrifice of all personal considerations
have fought manfully a losing battle."
THE SATURDAY REVIEW.
This journal, after some remarks on the death of Admiral Farragut,
continues:
"A still more famous leader in the war has lately closed a blameless
life. There may be a difference of opinion on the military qualities
of the generals who fought on either side in the civil war; but it is
no disparagement to the capacity of Grant or of Sherman to say that
they had no opportunity of rivalling the achievements of General Lee.
Assuming the chief command in the Confederate army in the second
campaign of the war, he repelled three or four invasions of Virginia,
winning as many pitched battles over an enemy of enormously superior
resources. After driving McClellan from the Peninsula, he inflicted
on Burnside and Pope defeats which would have been ruinous if the
belligerents had been on equal terms; but twenty millions of men, with
the absolute command of the sea and the rivers, eventually overpowered
a third of their number. The drawn battle of Gettysburg proved that
the invasion of the Northern States was a blunder; and in 1863 it
became evident that the fall of the Confederacy could not be much
longer delayed. Nevertheless General Lee kept Grant's swarming legions
at bay for the whole summer and autumn, and the loss of the Northern
armies in the final campaign exceeded the entire strength of the
gallant defenders of Richmond. When General Lee, outnumbered, cut
off from his communications, and almost surrounded by his enemies,
surrendered at Appomattox Court-House, he might console himself with
the thought that he had only failed where success was impossible. From
that moment he used his unequalled and merited authority to reconcile
the Southern people to the new order of affairs. He had originally
dissented from the policy of secession; and he followed the banner
of his State exclusively from a sense of duty, in disregard of his
professional and private interests. He might at pleasure have been
Commander-in-Chief of the Northern army, for he was second in rank to
General Scott. His ancient home and his ample estate on the Potomac
were ravaged by the enemy; but he never expressed a regret for the
sacrifice of his fortune. There can be no doubt that he was often
thwarted by political superiors and by incompetent subordinates, but
his equable temper and lofty nature never inclined him to complaint.
The regret for his loss which is felt throughout the vast regions
of the South is a just tribute to one of the greatest and purest
characters in American history."
It will not be inappropriate to reproduce here the tribute which
appeared in the London _Standard_, on the receipt of the news of
General Lee's illness:
THE STANDARD.
"The announcement that General R.E. Lee has been struck down by
paralysis and is not expected to recover, will be received, even at
this crisis, with universal interest, and will everywhere excite a
sympathy and regret which testify to the deep impression made on the
world at large by his character and achievements. Few are the generals
who have earned, since history began, a greater military reputation;
still fewer are the men of similar eminence, civil or military, whose
personal qualities would bear comparison with his. The bitterest
enemies of his country hardly dared to whisper a word against the
character of her most distinguished general, while neutrals regarded
him with an admiration for his deeds and a respect for his lofty
and unselfish nature which almost grew into veneration, and his own
countrymen learned to look up to him with as much confidence and
esteem as they ever felt for Washington, and with an affection which
the cold demeanor and austere temper of Washington could never
inspire. The death of such a man, even at a moment so exciting as
the present, when all thoughts are absorbed by a nearer and present
conflict, would be felt as a misfortune by all who still retain any
recollection of the interest with which they watched the Virginian
campaigns, and by thousands who have almost forgotten the names of
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania.
By the South it would be recognized as a national calamity--as the
loss of a man not only inexpressibly dear to an unfortunate people by
his intimate association with their fallen hopes and their proudest
recollections, but still able to render services such as no other man
could perform, and to give counsel whose value is enhanced tenfold
by the source from which it comes. We hope, even yet, that a life so
honorable and so useful, so pure and noble in itself, so valuable to
a country that has much need of men like him, may be spared and
prolonged for further enjoyment of domestic peace and comfort, for
further service to his country; we cannot bear to think of a career so
singularly admirable and so singularly unfortunate, should close so
soon and so sadly. By the tens of thousands who will feel as we do
when they read the news that now lies before us, may be measured the
impressions made upon the world by the life and the deeds of the great
chief of the Army of Virginia.
"Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the merits of the
generals against whom he had to contend, and especially of the
antagonist by whom he was at last overcome, no one pretending to
understand in the least either the general principles of military
science or the particular conditions of the American War, doubts that
General Lee gave higher proofs of military genius and soldiership than
any of his opponents. He was outnumbered from first to last; and all
his victories were gained against greatly superior forces, and with
troops greatly deficient in every necessary of war except courage
and discipline. Never, perhaps, was so much achieved against odds so
terrible. The Southern soldiers--'that incomparable Southern infantry'
to which a late Northern writer renders due tribute of respect--were
no doubt as splendid troops as a general could desire; but the
different fortune of the East and the West proves that the Virginian
army owed something of its excellence to its chief. Always
outnumbered, always opposed to a foe abundantly supplied with food,
transport, ammunition, clothing, all that was wanting to his own men,
he was always able to make courage and skill supply the deficiency of
strength and of supplies; and from the day when he assumed the command
after the battle of Seven Pines, where General Joseph Johnston
was disabled, to the morning of the final surrender at Appomattox
Court-House, he was almost invariably victorious in the field. At
Gettysburg only he was defeated in a pitched battle; on the offensive
at the Chickahominy, at Centreville, and at Chancellorsville, on
the defensive at Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and
Spottsylvania, he was still successful. But no success could avail him
any thing from the moment that General Grant brought to bear upon
the Virginian army the inexhaustible population of the North, and,
employing Sherman to cut them off from the rest of the Confederacy,
set himself to work to wear them out by the simple process of
exchanging two lives for one. From that moment the fate of Richmond
and of the South was sealed. When General Lee commenced the campaign
of the Wilderness he had, we believe, about fifty thousand men; his
adversary had thrice that number at hand, and a still larger force in
reserve. When the army of Virginia marched out of Richmond it still
numbered some twenty-six thousand men; after a retreat of six days,
in the face of an overwhelming enemy, with a crushing artillery--a
retreat impeded by constant fighting, and harassed by countless hordes
of cavalry--eight thousand were given up by the capitulation of
Appomattox Court-House. Brilliant as were General Lee's earlier
triumphs, we believe that he gave higher proofs of genius in his last
campaign, and that hardly any of his victories were so honorable to
himself and his army as that six-days' retreat.
"There have, however, been other generals of genius as brilliant, of
courage and endurance hardly less distinguished. How many men have
ever displayed the perfect simplicity of nature, the utter absence
of vanity or affectation, which belongs to the truest and purest
greatness, in triumph or in defeat, as General Lee has done? When
Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies, he moved from point to
point, as duty required, with less parade than a European general
of division, wearing no sword, attended by no other staff than the
immediate occasion demanded, and chatting with a comrade or a visitor
with a simple courtesy which had in it no shade of condescension.
Only on one occasion does he seem to have, been accoutred with the
slightest regard to military display or personal dignity; and that,
characteristically, was the last occasion on which he wore the
Confederate uniform--the occasion of his interview with General Grant
on April 9, 1865. After the war he retired without a word into privacy
and obscurity. Ruined by the seizure and destruction of his property,
which McClellan protected, and which his successors gave up to ravage
and pillage, the late Commander-in-Chief of the Southern armies
accepted the presidency of a Virginia college, and devoted himself as
simply and earnestly to its duties as if he had never filled a higher
station or performed more exciting functions. Well aware of the
jealous temper of the party dominant in the North, and anxious, above
all things, to avoid exasperating that temper against his conquered
countrymen, he carefully abstained from appearing in any public
ceremony or taking any overt part in political questions. His
influence has been exerted, quietly but steadily, in one direction,
with a single view to restore harmony and good-will between the two
sections, and to reconcile the oppressed Southerners to the Union from
which he fought so gallantly to free them. He has discountenanced all
regretful longings after the lost visions of Southern independence;
all demonstrations in honor of the 'conquered banner;' and has
encouraged the South to seek the restoration of her material
prosperity and the satisfaction of her national feelings in a frank
acceptance of the result of the war, and a loyal adhesion to the
Federal bond. It was characteristic and worthy of the man that he was
among the first to sue for a formal pardon from President Johnson; not
for any advantage which he personally could obtain thence, but to set
the example of submission to his comrades-in-arms, and to reconcile
them to a humiliation without which the conquerors refused them that
restitution to civil rights necessary to any effort to retrieve their
own or their country's fortunes. Truer greatness, a loftier nature, a
spirit more unselfish, a character purer, more chivalrous, the world
has rarely, if ever known. Of stainless life and deep religious
feeling, yet free from all taint of cant and fanaticism, and as dear
and congenial to the Cavalier Stuart as to the Puritan Stonewall
Jackson; unambitious, but ready to sacrifice all at the call of duty;
devoted to his cause, yet never moved by his feelings beyond the line
prescribed by his judgment; never provoked by just resentment to
punish wanton cruelty by reprisals which would have given a character
of needless savagery to the war--both North and South owe a deep debt
of gratitude to him, and the time will come when both will be equally
proud of him. And well they may, for his character and his life afford
a complete answer to the reproaches commonly cast on money-grubbing,
mechanical America. A country which has given birth to men like him,
and those who followed him, may look the chivalry of Europe in the
face without shame; for the fatherlands of Sidney and of Bayard never
produced a nobler soldier, gentleman, and Christian, than General
Robert E. Lee."
We may add to these the following just remarks upon the occupation to
which General Lee devoted himself at the close of his military career,
from
THE OLD DOMINION.
"Surely it should be a cause of thankfulness and encouragement for
those who are teachers, that their profession has received this
reflection of glory and honor from this choice of his, from this life,
and from this death. And it is enduring honor for all the colleges of
the South, and for all our schools--an honor in which all may share
alike without jealousy--that this pure and bright name is inseparably
connected by the will of him that bore it with the cause of education,
and is blended now with that of Washington in the name of one of our
own institutions of learning. We think that so long as the name of Lee
is honored and loved among us, our Southern teachers may rejoice and
grow stronger in their work, when they remember that he was one of
their number, and that his great heart, that had so bravely borne the
fortunes of a great empire, bore also, amid its latest aspirations,
the interests, the anxieties, and the hopes of the unpretending but
noble profession of teaching.
"To leave this out of the account would be, indeed, to do sad
injustice to General Lee's own memory. And that, not only because his
position in this profession was of his own choice, and was steadily
maintained with unchanging purpose to the end of his life, but also
because the acknowledgment of his service here is necessary to the
completeness of his fame. In no position of his life did he more
signally develop the great qualities of his character than in this;
and it may truly be said that some of the greatest can only be fully
understood in the light of the serene patience and of the simple and
quiet self-consecration of his latest years. It was then that, far
from the tumult of arms and from the great passions of public life,
with no great ambition to nerve his heart, nor any great events to
obscure the public criticism of his conduct, he displayed in calm
and steady light the grandest features of his character, and by this
crucial test, added certain confirmation to the highest estimate that
could have been formed of his character and of his abilities. It was
indeed a 'crucial test' for such a man; and that he sustained it as he
did is not among the smallest of his claims to the admiration of his
countrymen. No tribute to his memory can be just that does not take
this last great service into the account; and no history of his life
can be fairly written that shall not place in the strongest light his
career and influence as President of Washington College."
And we may appropriately close with the following thoughtful words
from the pen of
HON. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
"In the darkest hour of our trials, in the very midst of our deepest
affliction, mourning over the loss of the noble Lee, Heaven sends to
us as consolation the best sign of the times vouchsafed in many a day.
It addresses the heart, rent as it is in surveying the desolations
around us, as the rainbow upon the breast of the receding storm-cloud
when its power and fury are over.
"That sign is the unmistakable estimation in which the real merits
and worth of this illustrious chieftain of the cause of the Southern
States is held by all classes of persons, not only in the South, but
in the North.
"Partisans and leaders, aiming at the overthrow of our institutions,
may, while temporarily in high places, by fraud and usurpation, keep
up the false cry of _rebel_ and _traitor_; but these irrepressible
outburstings of popular sentiment, regarding no restraints on
great-occasions which cause _Nature_ to speak, show clearly how this
cry and charge are regarded and looked upon by the masses of the
people everywhere.
"Everywhere Lee is honored; not only as a _hero_, but as a _patriot_.
This is but the foreshadowing of the general judgment of the people of
the whole United States, and of the world, not only upon Lee, but upon
all of his associates who fought, bled, and died in that glorious
cause in which he won his immortality. That cause was the sovereign
right of local self-government by the people of the several States of
this continent. _That_ cause is not dead! Let it never be abandoned;
but let its friends rally to its standard in the forum of reason and
justice, with the renewed hope and energy from this soul-inspiriting
sign that it lies deeply impressed upon the hearts of the great
majority of the people in all sections of this country.
"In these popular manifestations of respect and veneration for the
man who won all his glory in maintaining this cause, present usurpers
should read their doom, and all friends of constitutional liberty
should take fresh courage in all political conflicts, never to lower
their standard of principles."
THE END
[Illustration: Portion of the VALLEY OF VIRGINIA]
End of Project Gutenberg's A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee, by John Esten Cooke