The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1866-05-24
ssFwo Dollars (Specie) In Adv
CFrom the London Telegraph
Commitment to General Lee

From the k0nd0n IeleErapn.J
Complimentt0 to General Lee.
At Lexington. in the State of Virginia,
is a college which bears the name of the
most illustrious citizen ever born in the
Old DoHinion, fertile rs that pleasant land
has been in heroes; nor could George
Washington himself have wished that the
college erected in his honor would sIhave
for President worthier chief than the one
who quietly entered upon his duties Just a
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 famil,
lar with hardships as with fame-has slept
for months amid the woods Of Virginia,
and has crossed the Rappahannock North
ward at the head of q victorious army he
has been proven alike by good aud evil
fortune, and, whether when threatening
the Federal capital, or when surrendering
his sword to Federal Captain, he has ever
borne himself as beseemed man born
alike by ancestry and by nature. The de-
scendent of "Light Horse Harry" has
dofsd the grey uniform for the gard of a
peaceful professor; nor can we own that
the change is degradation, even for Rob
ert Lee. 4s6!aaf --,,6sEs,sr sra5
There is difference in this mode of ac.
tion, but no alteration in the object, which
is simply to render the best service he can
10 his native State. To that single aim he
has never once been unfaithful; and he
will still pursue it, we may rest assured,
with the old high enthusiasm tempered by
. cautious brain. Throughout the war no.
thing was more remarkable than Lees per-
sonal infuence-in the manner in which
he impressed every ono who approached
him. That men, with Jackson's purity aud
earnestness, or with the de6onnuue and
graceful vallor of Stuart, should appreciate
the illustrious qualities Of their leaders, was
only natural but even tho humblest SOL
diers 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, q devilish outbreak of all mems
iercest passions had the Southern leader
been of different temper.
Calamity as the Confederates fought, we
must never forget their armies were com
posed Of somewhat questionable raw mate
rial 3; that the volunteers, with all the in
stinct of bravery which seldom deserts q
dominant class, had likewise many of the
the vices which are inevitably engendered
by the possession Of ofarbitrary power. Ac-
customed to tho unchecked license of au-
thority, the shareholders might perchance
have been ready enough to give the war a
character of internecine hatred and it was
eminently due to Robert T.. Lee that the
courage and humanities of civilized war
fare were, on the whole observed The
gentle nature Of the man never degenerated
into weakness; with high hand he could
restrain excesses, and admirably did he ex-
ercise this power. There are no purer
pages in the history Of the civil war than
those which relate to his invasion Of Mary
land and Pennsylvania, at time when the
temper of the Southern people was sorely
tried. 's
Such qualities as he displayed could not
fa'I, IN the long run, to win the regard OF
manly and affectionata people and while
We find that he was loved like father by
all those who shared his immediate perils,
we have not yet forgotten that when the
victorious vetrans Of the North were mar
ching home through Richmond, they burst
into splendid shout of enthusiasm as they
recognized, graveIy contemplating them
from a curtained window, the familiar form
and face Of Robert Il. Lee. ~