Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1870-10-18
ROBERT E. LEE.

T.. Lee, and the circumstances attending that
melancholy event.
It is difficult to know in what terms to an
nounce to our readers so great loss.
The world will unite, with singular unani-
nifty, in the sentiment that there has fallen
the Greatest American. Morally, inteleotu-
ally, in administrative capacity, in executive
energy, in civil life, and in the conduct Of
military affairs, America has produced but one
other worthy of comparison. History cam
have no hesitation in ranking him as the full, j
colossal, compeer of Washington. He was;
too high above the mass of any people, or the;
average of any age to be regarded as a repre-
sentative man. Neither the South nor Vir-I
ginia can claim him as exclusively her SON.
He belonged to the Race, and may we'll be put
forward as the type of what his age aspired to-.
ing history, that the difficulty which has to
be solved in the production of what are called
Great Men, is to chasten extraordinary
strength of will, ard an innate sense of su>
perb power into the bounds of moderate am
bition, and unselfsh patriotism. In not more
to such types.
SEA wise man modest. or great man good"
is the rarest production of the race. Phocion
and Timoleon among the ancents, English
Alfred, William of Orange, Washington,
Lee, and few others, form the small group
of Unselish Great Men. To appreciate Lee
in this respect, it is necessary to recur to a
few prominent points in his history.
It is, we believe, an authentic and undis-.
puted historical fact that at the commence
ment of the late civil war he was offered COM.
nand of the forces of the United States in the
field. When he resigned his position, there;
fore, to come to Virginia, twas not as an ad-i
ventureF seeking employment He had to,
weigh against his convictions of duty one of,
the most magnificent temptations ever held!
out to a military officer. As civilians, we can:
scarcely appreciate the struggle which it must,
have cost him to sever his connection with the
service of the United States. His education
at West Point, bis ideas Of subordinaton and
obedience, his devotion to the Union the
esprit dc corps Of the army, the point of honor
not to decline promotion, and the strongest.
appeal to military ambition ever held out to a.
soldier, were all to be weighed in the scale
against mis- love for Virginia. Add, too, the
reflection that the crisis had been precipitatedl
BY politicians unnecessarily, and in the face
of an American destiny which none of them
could ascend to or comprehend and the un-E
avoidable foreboding of military man, ac-GG
quainted with the resources of the sections,
that ultimate disaster must bcfall the arms of
the South. Viewed in the light ofsall these.
circumstances and temptations, the course of
Gen. Lee gathers around it as many of the;
elements of moral heroism as any single act of,
duty can attract.
Being placed in command of her forces bys
Virginia, his position soon became one of great!
embarrassment owing to the fact that not
until July were those forces transferred to the;
Confederate States. Hon. A II. Stevens re ]
cords just here one of those imperishable:
utterances of Gen. Lee which distinctly marks:
the characteristic feature of his greatness
The great obstacle to the accession of Virginia!
to the Confcderacy was the inevitable subordi
nation of Gen. Lee to other officers, and Mr.
Stevens foresaw that without Gen. Lees CON-
currence, no such subordination would be sub
mitted to. We, therefore, as he tells us. 5
waited upon him. The whole difficulty melteds
away in an instant before the magnanimity of;
our great Commander. 81 am willing" said
he, "to take any position my country mays
assign me-" From that moment until the war
closed, there was no contention about rank, no:
pickering for place, no fault>fi1ding with SUI
perIors, and no quarreling with subordinatesS
on the part of this incomparably great man-E
He had the unbounded confidence, and thee
warmest admiration and love of all, from tbes
lowest private to the President of the Con-
federate States. The Fedcrals themselves
time and again, did homage both to his geniuss
as soldier, and his elevation as man. Az
the surrender of Richmond the Union soldiers;
uncovered their heads, and walked by his
house with the same reverential admiration
which they had Involuntary manifested at,
the tomb of Jackson. It is said that Gen.
Grant refused to take from him his sword at
Appomattox. AS for his military career, the
very highest tribute to his genius is to be-
found in the report of Gen. Grant of the cam
paign of eighteen hundred and sixty four, when
read in the light of the comparative forces and
resources of the two commanders. It should
be remembered that very many of the same
German soldiers who have since astonished
the world by their power, energy, and the
precision of their rigidly disciplined move:
ments, reducing the result of battles to an al
most mathematical certainty, we're hurled by
Gen. Grant, in the spirit of precisely the same