After the Civil War many offers of places of honor and fame came
to Gen. Robert E. Lee. He refused them all, says Thomas Nelson
Page, in his biography of the soldier. The only position which
he finally did accept was the presidency of Washington College,
with a small salary.
On one of these occasions Lee was approached with the tender of
the presidency of an insurance company at a salary of $50,000 a
year. He declined it, saying that it was work with which he was
not familiar.
“But, general,” said the representative of the insurance
company, “you will not be expected to do any work. What we wish
is the use of your name.”
“Don’t you think,” said General Lee, “that if my name is worth
$50,000 a year, I ought to be very careful about taking care of
it?” (Text.)--_The Youth’s Companion._
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