The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-11-18
Robert e. Leo.

GUMS, eueIe Is d COueSc Wn1cn pears
the name of the most illustrious citi-
zen ever born in the cold Domin-
ion fertile as that pleasant land has
been In heroes; nor could George
Washington himself have wished that
the college erected in his honor should
have for President worthier chief
than the one who quietly entered
upon his duties just fortnight ago.
The new President is still in the prime
of manhood, though already his hair
and beard are grey; he has been long
accustomed to command; he is IA
miliar with hardships as with fame
has slept for months amid the woods
of Virginia, and has crossed the Rap
pahannock Northward at the head of
victorious army; he has been proved
alike by good and evil fortune, and,
whether when threatening the Federal
capital, or when surrendering his
sword to q Federal captain, he has
ever borne himself as beseemed q
man noble alike 10y ancestry and by
nature. The descendant of ''Light
Horse Harry has doffed the grey
uniform for the garb of peaceful
professor; nor can we own that the
change Is q degradation, even for
Robert Lee There is difference in
the mode of action, but no alteration
in the object, which is simply to
render the best service he can to his
native State. To that single aim he
has never once been unfaithful; and
he will still pursue it, we may rest as
sured, with the old high enthusiasm,
tempered by cautious brain.
Throughout the war nothing was
more remarkable than Lees personal
lntluence-the manner in which he
impressed every one who approached
him. That men with Jackson's S purity
and earnestness, or with the debonaire
and graceful valor of Stuart, should
appreciate the illustrious qualities of
their leaders, was only natural; but
even the humblest soldiers in the
ranks felt, though they might not
have been able to express the moral
power which Lee exerted The war
was, in all conscience, sanguinary
enough; but there would have been
very carnival of carnage, Il devilish
outbreak of all mems fiercest passions,
had the Southern leader been of diff
ferent temper. Calamity as the Con
federates fought, we must never for
get that their armies were often com
posed of somewhat questionable raw
material; that the volunteers, with
all the instinct of bravery which sell
dom deserts II dominant class, had
likewise many of the vices which are
inevitably engendered by the posses
sion of arbitrary and lawless power.
Accustomed to the unchecked Ii
cense of authority, the shareholders
might perchance have been ready
enough to give the war character OF
intcrnecine hatred and it was emf
nently due to Robert E. Lee that the
courtesies and humanities of civilized
warfare were, on the whole, observed.
The gentle nature of the man never
degenerated into weakness with a
high hand he could restrain excesses,
and admirably did he exercise his
power. There are no purer pages in
the history of the civil war than those
which relates to his invasion of Mary
land and Pennsylvania, at a time
when the temper of the Southern
people was sorely tried Such quail
ties as he displayed could not fail, in
the long run, to win the regard Of a
manly and afectionate people and
while we find that he was loved like a
father by all those who shared his
immediate perils, we have not yet
forgotten that when the victorious
veterans of the North were marching
home through Richmond, they burst
into splendid shout of enthusiasm
as they recognized, gravely contem-
plating them from curtained win
dow, the familiar form and face OF
Robert f. Lee.
THE old order changes, giving
place to new, and God fultills himself
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