The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1868-06-25
Robert L.. Lee

FROM tne LONDON Dally IelegralL
AT Lexington, in the state Of Virginia,
there is college which bears the name of
the most ilustrious citizen ever born in
the " Old Dominion" fertile as that pleas
ant land has been in heroes; ncr could
George Washington himself have wished
that the college erected to his honor should
have worthicr President than the one
who quietly entered upon his duties
short time ago. The new President is
still in the prime of manhood, though
already his head and beard are gray; he
has long been accustomed to command
he is familiar with hardship as with fame
has slept for months amid the woods of
Virginia, an5 has ,crossed the Rappahan-
mock northward at TIC Lead Of a victorious
army he has proved alike by good and
evil fortune, and whether when threaten
ing the federal capital, or when surreder-
ing his sword to federal captain, he has
borne himself like man noble alike by
ancestry and by nature. The descendant
of % Light Horse Harry" has doffed the
gray uniform for the garb of peaceful
professor, nor can we own that change is
degradation, even for Robert Z. Lee:
There is difference in the mode of ac-
ton, 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, tenn
pered by cautious brain. Throughout
the war nothing more remarkable than
Lees personal inhuen ce--the manner in
which he impressed every one who ap-
preached him. That men with Jacksons
purity and eagerness. or with the debon-
nairc and graceful valor Of Stewart, should
appreciate the illustrious qualities of their
leaders, was only natural; but even the
humblest soldiers in the ranks felt, though
they may not have been able to express,
the moral power which Lee exerted. The
war was in all conscience sanguiuary
enough; but there would have been a
very carnival of carnage, deSilish out
break of mems fercest passions, had the
southern leaders been of different tenn
per.
Calamity as the confederates fought, we
must not forget that their armies were Oft
en- composed of somewhat questionable ma
terial but the volunteers, with all the in
stincts of bravery which seldom deserts a
dominant class, had likewise many of them
vices which are inevitably engendered by
the possession of arbitrary and lawlcss pow
er. Accustomed to the unchecked license
of authority, the shareholders might per-
chance have been ready enough to give
the war q character of internecine hatred !;
and it was eminently due to Robert E.
Lee that the courtesies and humanities of
civilized warfare were, on the whole, OBJ
served. The gentle nature of man never
degenerated into weakness; with high
hand he could restrain exec ses, and adj
mirably did he exercise his power.
There are no purer pages in the history
Of the civil war than those which relate to
the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylva-
MIA, at time when the temper Of the south
ern people was sorcIy tried. Such quail
ties as he displayed could not fail, in the
long run, to win the regard Of a manly
and affectionatc people, and while We find
that he was beloved like a father by all
those who shared his immediate perils, we
have not forgotten that when the victorious
veterans of the north we're marching home
through Richmond, they burst into a
splendid shout of enthusiasm as they rec
ognizcd, gravey contemplating them
from a curtained window, the familiar
form and face Of Robert L. Lee.
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