New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-08-31
cFy RoSFcRANS,S VIRGINiA MISSION.

We have a liking for Gen. Rosecrans. If
! his fortune had equaled his ability, he would
now most probably be high officer in the army.
We were glad to have him our Mexican Minis
ter for we felt he would do the country serv-
ice We do not feel so well satisfied with his
| Sulphur Springs mission. Since the valiant Don
Quixotte went forth to fight the windmills, we
have known of no mission more absurd. Gen.
ROsecrans means well-and if he could dictate
terms of reconciliation, there would be some
hope of their general acceptablity. Unfortu-
natelY 1--WE know too well the nature Of the terms
he will obtain from the Southern leaders. lie
rightly estimates the influence which Lee and
his generals would have on the Rebels of the
SOuth--but it is folly to suppose that their in
fluence will be materially changed. Take the
case of Lee If we believed in constructive
treason, or admitted the popular doctrine
that rebellion should be punished by hanging
we should take Gen. Lee as a conspicuous exam
pie. Of all the Rebels, civil and military, he was
perhaps the most gifted the most danger
Gus. and the most wanton. As soldier he car
red the confidence of his chief to the camp of
Rebellion, and aided in swaying Virginia into
the war; without cause or prOvOcatiOn. Men
rebelled from fanaticism, ignorance, devotion
TO Slavery. Gen. Lee was Rebel from am
bitiOn.
Peace brought political and personal duties
to all of u.s. To Robert +. Lee it brought
duty of honor. He possessed great influence
with the Southern Rebels He knew how
greatly he had sinned and with what magnan
unity he had been protected by Gen. Grant.
We are told that when he saw the generosity
of Grant to his shattered army, he was over
"come with emotion"-that he was prOfuse
with thanks Since that fearful day, however,
he has been silent. He knew what the welfare
of the South demanded-that amnesty was at
hand if suffrage were given-that the North
merely wanted justice secured to the race
it had freed-tO throw down every
barrier, and unite every interest in
the harmony of a restored Union. He saw the
CObbs and Hills of the South, the men who
had been warriors in peace and citizens in war,
fermenting discOrd and bitterly assaling every
plan of reconstruction. He saw these cowardly
myrmidOns of hatred filling the South, like
many evil spirits. Like the witches in Mac
beth, they have worked their charms--to dis
fatal end-and infected the very air with
their hell broth, boil, and bubble" Like the
Centaurs in Dante's hell, their aim seems ever
to drive back the race so long at their
mercy into the dark river of blood. See what
they have made the South Emigration is ar
rested-capital shrinks from her cities and sea-
pOrts-cOmmeree seeks less congeniaI but
more secure climes-credit is dead-her
vast resources are neglected-there is
no industry, no enterprise, no national
progress, no public spirit-nothing but po-
litical chaos and social anxiety. The men whose
energy would bless the South are banished,
while those whose industry would make her
fields to blossom as the rose are held in cruel
and dreary subsection. This has come be-
cause her people have listened to prophets as
false as Johnson, and Toombs, and Wise, and
because the men whose voices should have
been cOmmanding-men like Lee and his
generals-have been either silent or sullenly
antagonistie. Lee, especially has had the hap
piness of great States at his bidding, and he
has chosen to remain neutral, to shrink from
duty and responsibility behind the groves of
his Lexington Academy. Instead of acting the
part of Washington, to which he is shd to
aspire, he has been merely the TnrvcydrOp-
Grandson of the South The people he led
to ruin have looked for three years for leader
ship and action He has merely given them
department and phrases. .1 4
Nov, when an enthusiastic and not over
cautious soldier rushes into his presence and
tells him that he can, and must. and shall
speak, the oracle of department opens his
mouth. What he has said to our diplomatist
we have not learned. We presume it is. in the