The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1870-10-26
"A Nation Mourns Her Chief. /.
From the Shreveport Bulletin. |

From the Shreveport Bulletin.
The hero patriot, the beloved of all
mankind, Robert Z. Lee, has passed |
from among us. The sad intelligence,
borne now on the wives to every qual
ter Of the Globe, Expresses AL hearts,
and fills the nation with gloom. Yes
lied chieftain, was rapidly recovering !
from recent attack of paralyses; to-
day, the announcement Of his death |
moves them to tears; mournful excm-
plitication ofthe vanity of human hope!
OF the uncertainty of human life of
the inscrutablc providences of God
We shall not presume here to pass
eulogy upon the illustrious dead, or at
tempt even a feeble expression of the
sorrow we feel in the announcement
of the nations bereavment. The life
of General Lee, is his best and noblest
eluogy, and the grief with which every
feeling heart is stricken, best interprets
the deep emotions of our own.
A soldier, gentleman and a chris
tian, our beloved dead, honorcd and
adorned every station in life, which he
was called to fill; in the integrity of
his character, the snblimity of morali-
ty found its exemplifcation; his lofty
herosm finds it parallel only in the
best and greatest characters Of history,
while his gentleness, approach even to
tenderness, won the love, almost the
alteration, of all who came within the
the sphere of his influences, before the
purity of his character, vice and du-
plicity fed, as did the mighty giant
and hidcous beast, before the light of
prince Arthur's diamond shield. The
death of General Lee, is not the loss OF
the South alone, or of America so
grand a representative of chivalry, vir
tue and nobility, belongs not to a sin
gle people, and humanity mourns his
loss. Such man, the Grecians would
have apotheosizea, and among the Ro-
mans, his statutes would have adorn-
ed the Pantheon; the present age, pays
him tribute of tears and of love, and
so long as justice, truth and chivatry
sway the human heart, his memory
will be cherished, honored and beloved.
More keenly, perhaps, than any
others, will the surviving soldiers of
the old heroes army feel his loss;
the eyes of thousands. who exulted
in the hour of battle, and never
quailed before the storm of shot and
she'll, will be bathed in tears to-day.
Those who saw "a Kingdoms might
upon his sword" and followed it's
CLEAN, as like the white plume and
fblazing helmet of Henry of Navarro, it
flashed in the thicsest of the fight, and
who, at AppomattOx, mingled their
parting tears with his, best knew,
therefore best loved, and now most
deeply lament him.
Idolized by his army, adorned by
his country, contemplated with admir-
alton by the nations of earth, his gent
us heroism flooded the young Confed-
eracy with glory, sustained it's waning
fortunes, and dignified its fall. The
hero of an hundred battles, when his
sword was sheathed, he taught the lion
hearted braves who had followed his
banner to the last, and the suffering
and injured people who trusted him to
, the end, how to meet with calmness
and dignity the misfortunes he had
!, done 50 much to avert, and how to re-
trieve by the arts of peace, the desc
lations Of war. With but one excep-
ton, the records of human greatness
present no parallel to the life of Gen.
eral r. E. Lee, and proud should be
, the state, which has given to the Ma.
ton and to mankind, the highest and
noblest examples of patriotism, great
ness and goodness-Washington anG
, Lee.
The results of the labors and sacrifi
ces of the one are evident to every eye
, but are those of the latter, less beneti
, cent and certain, because less visible
a we believe not. Tyrants and usurp
= ers may indeed, for time, riot annie
/. the graves of heroes and desecrate tn
temples of conquered people, but tn
- spirit of Justice will inevitably return
. to blast them in their might; soone
y than believe that all the noble bloo'
: that has been shed from Marathon t.
. Richmond has been shed in vain, W
y y should expect to see them the frame q
the universe crumble into ruin and tn
;, stars of Heaven leave their orbits aE'
= shoot their fires into the abyss OF dark
ness.
. But here let us pause, the sorrowfu
4 emotions of our heart unfit us for 18th
- thence no language can interpret tn
3 nations grief and we claim the priVi
r. eye of mingling in silence, our teal
- with those of our fellow citizens. .
s this sad day, let all business be suspef
y, ded and our department evince no
Va deeply we feel that Robert L. Lee
InnI