Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-05-31
General Robert Il. Lee.


| From the lmperialistJ
The great crises of the worlds progress
are sure to develop or bring forward
great central characters, men of excep-
| tional power and genius, round whom not
only men but events naturally group
themselves Such an one, beyond all
doubt, is the man whose name we have
placed at the head Of this article. What
ever differences of opinion may exist as
to the nature of the moral responsibility
which he assumed in accepting the COM
mand of the armies Of the Confederacy,
it is hardly to be presumed that mafy
men, even at the Nsrth, are still so
blinded by the bitter feelings engenderea
in the great conflict that they fail to
discern and acknowledge the remarkable
ability of the chieftain whose single name
ana individual force so long sustained
sinking cause. Hardly in the gathering
clouds of the closing scenes of his mill
tary career is the strength and dignity of
General Lees character obscured. Even
those who fought against him, and we
were among them, cannot withhold from
him a certain amount Of respectful ad-
miration.
Our object at this time, however, is
by no means to prepare a eulogy upon
the great Southern leader and champion.
In previous articles we have tried to
point out the fact that more than few
Of the representative men OF the North
were silently but assuredly awakening to
the truth of the position which the I'M
perialist so boldly assumes, and it is our
l. Il. g al ot ha oil md al ia
among our Southern fellow-oitizens are
not wanting in similar perception. We
have therefore selected General Lee as a
name sufficiently prominent to point our
moral
From the day when he surrendered to
Grant and accepted the failure of the
political enterprise for which he had sac
rificed go much, his position has been one
of silent and digniGed scquiescence in
the results of the war; tut it is not to be
gathered from this that be fails to COM
prehend those results in all their length
and breadth. 1t may rather be believed
he clearly perceives the drift of public af-
fairs, and is contented, like thousands of
others of our best and wisest, to wait in
peaceful patience for the inevitable devel-
opments of the future.
Conscious that the old Republic has
ceased to exist, the sagacious leader sees
no reason for trying to persuade himself
that the country can continue forever in
its present trapsition state, but calmly
waits for the future in the attitude Of
man who will assume no responsibility
for that which he cannot prevent And
in all this General Lee and those who
initiate him, are sctlng well and wisely.
Their course can give no otfense to any,
while it tends to allay those partisan
prejudices which, if fostered by the
jealous watchfulness which their too
speedy return to public lite would cause,
might hereafter interfere VITA their pa
triotic usefglnel IL the better days to
copae.
Still, in pondering the great events in
which they have been partakers, such
men must at times be struck with the vast
difference between that which they at
tempted and that which they accom-.
plished. They attempted amply to divide
the Union, and they determined the fact
that Republic was no longer possible in
America; refusing longer to be governed
by the Constitution, they enabled the
country and the world to see that the 1
Constitution no longer governed any
thing; in defending State rights they
secured the abolition Of even State lines,
and they may now, as they consult to-
gether over the past and the future, say
to one another, Eve indeed failed, but o
great work has been done, nevertheless
Let US wait"
That General Lee has no very high
opinion Of our EXISTING institutions must
be evident to oil who have watched his
course, nor can even the most rabid
idolator of the caucus form of govern
ment blame him If he refuses to shut his
eyes to the hope of better things which is
held out to him by the greater national
strength and in5ssirial freedom which
the Empire will guarantee.
We have simply presented General
Lee as representative man, q promi-
nent type, but there are others not less
so, Of whom We shall speak hereafter.