The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-12-03

place ssisncd him with eastward Checf1ui =!
n4ss, but doubuees with internal anger. II
1hio representation Of HE deeigns and no
|ttves be unjust, he present writer can oniy
regret it, he haa written frun convicfaOn
Of the trutl, Of tho sketch. which presents
fair co.mlromis betwcer the conflicting
views efI.. e's character, and il perhaps the
fair hypoti.esis
II is not the design Of this paper to follow
General Lte in his public career, during thy
Revolution All tho histories contain On acs
count Ut his services, and Of that last Erens
drama of Monmouth The volume before me
contains M elaborate defence, BY himself. %
misconduct on that occasion, and the account
is drawn % with such skill and plausibliity
that il 10 difficult to resist the conviction q
deep injustice on the part Of his opponents
Bat the weight Of argument on the other sue
Is, unfortunately, Tor the GENERAL, quite
irresistible. WashengtOn was not an UNJUST
man; and Washington declared that Leo
had distinctly disobeyed his orders, ana near
" caused an irreparable disaster TO sne
American cause Congress was not disposed
to commit u deliberate wrong, and one winch
would deprive the Revolution OF o great NH
itary leader who had done good service, ana
was capable of more Gems ress ratified the
w
his commission and banishcd him from the
contest Ii is impossible to believe that this
deliberate action on the part Of the General,
his officers, and the representatives Of the
colony, was the cruel wrong which Lee de-
clarcd it to be-and history has given her
decision against him The charge Of treach-
cry has been elborately urged BY later Wr'-.
tiers but whether the act Of Lee Was treason
or mere blunder, it is not necessary here
to examine. laa
He retired in high dudgeon to his estaee
in sarkely County, Virginia. This property.
had been bought some years before at the
suggestion Of General Gates-and one OF the
ngu,ar incidents connected with the lives
Of those two men, is the fact that both were
disgraeed and cs.mc to live within lew
miles of each other. Lee occupied small
| stone house near the present village OF Lee.
town, comm anding fine landscape termi..
mating in azure mountains hany stories
are told Of his eccentricities, which have been
of. en- repes. tied The house was divided by
imaginary lines into kitchen,a sitting room,
n chamber etc and in this cherries abode
the soidj er lived, surrounded by his books,
his ,iagss, and his servants, among whom was
an ltal:an, named Guiseppi MinShini, whose
deseen iants still reside in the neighborhood
The house of Gates, as | have said-called
travellers Rest'-was only few miles
distant, and thither Lee often went, no doub.
| to compare bitter notes upon the respective
incidents oftaeir career Gates had written
to him long before, inviting him to visit
Travellers Eest, where good bed is proyi-
ded for you, Two or three slaves to supply all
yeur wants end WITNESSES, and space enough
about US for you to exercise away all your
spleen and gloomy moods, whensoever they
distress you Mrs. Gates joined in the re-
guest, but whether that lady and the cynical
| soldier agreed very well is doubtful. Local
tradition declares that she was too tond o.
an extra glas OF wine !" would quarrel with
her husband, oud that on an occasion OF
t'n,s description. when she appealed to Lee
for his opinion of herself, he replied, Madam
you are a ira yedy in pirate Il fe, and farce
to all the w,orldt' A more biting piece Of
! wit could scarcely be found in Jnnius. -
Another cS hibition of Lees malevolent sar-
casm may be found in correspondence
with gen ,le,nan of South Carolina, who had
supported his dismissal from the army
Until YER !, lately he writes, II was taught
to consid err you only as u fantastic, pompous,
| dramafS persone, a mere NaluOtso, never
to be sp ken Of or thought of bat for the sake
I Of lausI alter; and when the humor for Taught
ter snJ sided. never to be spoken Of or though
OF mGr.e But find that was mistaken;
| find tis It you are as malignant scoundrel
rs you. are universally allowd to be ridicn
/ 1ov J :sne' disgusting coxcomb. Weary OF the
y,ne ness and tedium of his life in the coun
J try. he busted himself with his celebrated
.0oeries, Political and Military, which con
timed q bitter attack upon Wilmington
They were published in Baltimore, but tn
indignation which they oecasioned soon sub
sided into contempt. The hero was above
the shafts of his foe, and Lee saw hlmsei
consigned forever to what was worse thar
observation-disclosures Finally he grew tire
of his monotonous lile-ot his dogs, whom
according to tradition, he had blasphemousi.,
named after the Holy Trinity ana the tweis
, Apostles-of his books, his hunting, and tn
, mosioness mountain rampant Wnic
greeted him daily ss he Went 10 MS i,on
door. He repaired to Philadelphia. ana =
, king lodgings at an inn in Market s'ree
"Convestigoe Wagon, was there seized w
, chiils, which terminated in violent fever
: He expired OH the I'd of October, 1882, ex
claiming as has been said, in his dying mo
a ments, '';Stand by me, my brave granadiersl
Thus died remarkable man, whose nam
q Will always NC IcuCAUCIcu AOA bSS COAuCN
ton with the great Revolution. His charac
= ter was composed Of fierce and impetuou
n elements; and the pages of the volume iron
: which many Of these details are taker
!. present vivid picture of the individual
:. Tho first point shall notice is the evldenc
+ here presented that Lee was no mere vulga
It adventurer, a military gladiator or free lane
: sprung from the dregs Of society, and withot
: social rank or family. He was distinctly on
h of The English gentry, and probably connec
= ed with more than one Of the nobility. In
: might be deduced from the tone of his VAR
9 Gus writings, public and private, which al
q those of q man conscious Of his social pos
y ton He writes to a lady from Warsaw I.
d - To speak proudly, do not see why the dc
,e laration OF my passion should 60 heinous
at offend you. am born ola reputabB tamil
+ my character hope is . fair one; and 40
j. fortune is sufficiently ample to make an no
IN est man independent and an honest wom'
ut content, cannot see the mighty crime
If wishing to unite your fortune with mine.
h The Earl of Pembroke signs himself "yo
lv ,uost affectionate friend and humble servant
y. Edmund Burke writes, at was kind in y
IN 70 remember YOUR friends in our dull, VOL
A. out hemisphere" and the lending men
So America uniformly address him as an eqt
ed and companion. Thus mucn may not
r. unneces sary, to remove an impression up
g. some minds that Lee was mere homel'
all adyenturer. 1t may be added that his bic
nd rapher shows his possession of an ami
ut fortune when he embarked in the Amerie
81. cause. TO that cause he undoubtedly CO
nd tributed important service. He was Tor ma
,ia wears the consistent aud .vio.ent opponent
he the oppressive acts of the English min'st
mt He took fire at the Stump Act and wr
Ter to tie King of Poland: If the humors VIII
IA. this accursed attempt has raised are sniie
tic to subside, tbs inherent affection which
mt colonies nave for their mother country,
cal cIashing Of interests one amongst anotl
ter which will throw every thing back into
on. old channel, which indeed 10 the case airea
,st' -aut If another attack of the same nat
ich should be made upon them by wicl
,eir laundering Minister, | will venture to pro
md ecy that this country shall be shaken t.
Les foundation, in its wealth, credit, naval 10
,ey and internal population His thong
ton indeed, seemed to have turned CONSTANT.
he IN q