The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-10-18

Ous man, casting away WnateVer Tue carnal near
, holds dear enconntering privation and frost ant
!. fire and death, self.devoted victim on the alta
of his country; and think the finest tribute vi
can render to his memory Is to initiate; tha
cbrist.ltke Jessor, OF devotion. Thank God that
even n these days the spirit Of Calvary still lives
.. Gods roya race Is not eXtiuct-the' followers
:. Him who, .sthough he was rich, became poor tina
we through his poverty might be made rich.
What nobler utt.rance can make on this mem
: ortal day than to assure You that your departed
hero served his country in the spirit OF Jesu:
Christ 80 = - "A !,
2. The care Of the disciples for the Saviour,s
honor, whom crtelHed, they praised. whom re
4 jected as rebel against the Roman empire they
vet acknowledged as 4.a prophet mighty In deed
and word before God and all the people,-tnis
example, we say, indicates the duty of defending
the memory Of the dead. Z
Friendship still has claims upon us after on,
friends have departed. Their reputation Is precious
Their better life still endures. Hthey could SPEAK
from their graves, they would express their wish
. to be hon orably remembered. Their edeath:beds
u were soothed by the thought that, having friends
their honor would be vindicated when they them.
selves could speak no more. No hard demand,
one would think, from loving glhearts - -
The dead have their rlghts-it Is wrong to nat.
ter them, 1t Is Infamous to scandRlize them. a
natural sense OF the duty due TO the. .defenceless
leads us to hide their faults where the exposure is
not for the good Of the living. sacred reyer.
ence constrains Us to speak gently OF their ettoss
and warmly Of their virtues. :! - =:
But In such case as that which now engages
our thoughts, there s no need OF any. tmid diplo.
macy Of affection. .In this excepsonalinstance,
which can never again occur, permit me to speak
boldly Of the hero Of lost Cause General Lee was
born in Westmoreland County, yirgInIa-the
birthplace Of Washington, OF Richard Henry Lee,
OF President Monroe, OF Lighthouse Harry Lee
his gallant and dashing father-ln,other words,
in that precise region where the traditions of thn
Old regime were as q reigony He was ia gentle.
man Of the stamp Of washington frank, digni!
fed, courteous IN society; in office, patient unset
nsh, just; In battle, cool and braye.-Yeth he was
more genial and perhaps more shameless than the
! leader Of the old Revolution. He was not cut ont
for reformer he took the religlon that lay at his
-dour, and was aChurch OF England man ;ihe Yield
ed to the politics that ran In his Blood and was ,a
States Rights man. The argument which led him
to hslife as stated In letter to sister, Is
of1w wonderful simplicity: ~ cannot take part
| against my native State; have not been able
to make up my nind to raise my hand
against my relatives, my chitdren, my
home" This tender domestic thought puerle
as 1t may be esteemed by modern politician, but
to him as vital and as satred as love token to q
knight Of old romance, animated the foremost
figure OF the war. To say that this man sinned
In fighting, would be to say that, he sinned in
loving. ~.
We are not called upon to gauge his politics II
heerred, he erred with Washington and Monroe,
and the old statesmen ofthe Commonwealth where
he was born.a Nor do we. need:to estimate that
purely Vlrginian character-not deep, but broad;
not cosmopolitan, but liberal; not philosophical,
but practical; comprehending life's realities so
thoroughly, feeling llfes relations so intensely,
so genial, so domestic, 80 hospitable, 80 honest
and manly to the core.
But may speak, here and now, OF his sense Of
duty. This was as all admit, the law OF his !ife.
In private letter to his son, G.. ". GnstIsiiee,
which was found by Federal soldier at Arllng
ton, and sent to Northern paper, occurs the
following passage. lit WAS written nearly twenty
years,s since; when heyoiDg man MAS in college:
'rnregard to duty, let me in, CONCLUSION Of this
hasty letter inform youathat, nearly hundred
years ago there was 9 day of remarkable gloom
and darkness still Known as the DARK day'-a
day when theight. of:the:sun was SLOWLY e1t1n-
guished, as II by an eclipse. The Legislature or
Connecticut was III session, and as lts members
saw the unexpected and !unsccountable darkness
coming onyr they shared in the general awe and
terror. It;was supposedly many that the last day
the day OF fjudgment-had come. q Some one, In
the CONSERVATION Of the hour, moved an adjourn
nent. Then there, arose an old Puritan legisla.
tor, Davenport, Of Stanford, and said that
;lf the last day had come, he desired to be
found at the .:post Of duty, and therefore
moved that candles be brought IN go
that the house could proceed with taduty. There
was quietness In that mans MING, the anletness
OF Heavenly wisdom, and innexisle willingness to
obey present duty. Duty, then, isothe ,suolimest
word In our Language. Do your duty in all things
like the old Puritan. You cannot do moreI you:
should never: wish to dc less Eeyerlet nae and
yonr mother wear one, gray hafr for any lack Of.
duty on iyeur part.l 80 Il I, .Gi:: 49,"
These words reveal the secret OF great Ne-a
life that not only sheds aserene light over the
heights OF Arlington, but vindlcates the aspersed
glory. OF that land whose child eur. hero was.
Here duty was no call to battle, as with Nelson,
and no excuse for defeat, as with Ulric;1 but the
calm and deliberate sentiment by which great
life was controlled. O. We who honor his memory,
make yours the spirit OF hls career, and let duty
he your watchword and your Inspiration!
3. The readiness OF the disciples to conform to
the will Of Christ, Of the Emmaus wayfarers to re-
deem his fame, OF John to take care Of the mother
whom a dying Saviour entrusted to his charge, Of
the apostles to carry out In suffering and death
the ereas conmissiouIall indicate TO MS the sa-
creaness of' the last will OF the departsd"-:: 'ss
The Willis; in certain sense, the canodlzatlcn
Of the right or property. All codes recognize It's
sapctIty. All our hopes OF reunion with the de-
parted demand that the parchmenlts' 5. Traced a by
their trembling hands. that the words uttered by
| their struggling breath, shall be honored by our
| care and love. Much more the famitestn which
their livlng blood stlu pulses the projects which
their wisdom devised, the institutions which they
i formed aud sustained. rI:<a.ets.i., =.
4 when I seek to penetrate Into the mindof our
or.a. leader. to understand how he rhe failed to
save the country by the sword, still hoped to save
its laws its institutions, It's customs; It's Sciences
its letters, its magistrates, Its altars-ali that
4 bas been overwhelmed By a fierce aud tumul-
! ,uous democracy admire the simple and noble
eypedent to which. he resorted. General Lee
| .or claims TO the reverence OF