The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1870-11-03
LEE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION:
To tho Surviving Officers and5Sol-
diers fthe Confed ederate Army.

p, .> i@
To tho Surviving oflcers andisol-
diers ofthe Confederate Army.
. The last sad rites are soyer, and all
that was mortal of oar beloved and hon.
ored chieftain, General Robert Edward
Lee, has been committed to the grave.
.It'is now only left to us to discharge
the duty,'so sacred to surviving afec-
tiop, of building and decorating his
tomb. Admiration for his great quail
ties and fame, may prompt others to
raise the lofty column and imposing
statute; but love for his person, ,rever.
ence for his virtues, and regard for his
memory, dictate to comrades in arms,
as their first care, to,properly enshrine
lis remains. ,, -.> ...-..,..
After General Lee assumed the Presi.
dency of Washington College, his
earliest work was the erection of a
chapel on.the College grounds, Be-
meath that chaste and massive struc.
ture in the room designatedfor library,
and adjoining tile Office filled with me>
meitoes of bis last unsel6sh, earnest
labors, his ashes nov reposc.. And here
in the temple reared by himself, the
home of his adoption, will be his fitting,
and we believe, his enduring resting
place. We hold this conviction because
his remains now rest in the spot
chosen by those who alone had a right
to decide, because this spot would
most likely have been approved by
the illustrious dead himself had his
self.forgetting mind ever dwcltfor'a mo
ment on such question; because it
holds his memory aloof from the posi-.
BILE cdntamipations of party politics; be-
cause it accords with the custom OBJ
served by the great Father and servants
Of the State, all of whom preferred un-
ostentatious resting places; and because
his tomb here will be really more useful
in connection with the last work of his
exemplary life in perpetuating the
good influence of the College of Wash
ingtou and Lee Throughout the South.
We therefore invite his'brethren and fol-
lowers in the momentous, struggle which
has made his name and theirowni ilImor-
tai, to unite in constructing here Maui
'soleum worthy the foremost man ofall his
time. On the day succeeding the death of
Gen. Zee, the Confederate soldiers who
escorted the body from his residence
to the Chapel met and at once resolved
to form Memorial Association; and
at an adjourned meeting on the 18th of
Oct when the funeral obsequies were
concluded, they adopted a plan of or
ganization An Executive Committee,
with President and Vicc-Presidcnts
for the Southern States, have been ap-
pointed, and the Association will soon
be Incorporated. In order that the
poorest in our ranks may be enabled
to join upon an equal footing with all
Others in the pious work in view, it has
been determined that any Confederate
soldier may become member of the
Association upon the payment Of one
dollar, and that the names Of all the
members shall be enrolled in suitable
books to be preserved 10 the Memorial
Chapel. 1t is not proposed to limit
subscriptions to the small sum already
named, nor to confne them to soldiers;
nor do our wishes and purposes stop
with the Mausoleum. Contributions
will be gladly received from friends
everywhere and Of all classes, who will
under proper regulations, be inscribed
as honorary members; and when sufi-
cicnt fund shall have been secured, it
is contemplated to erect special mon
unlent in connection with the tomb.
Fellow. soldiers, we invoke you by
the common memories of the past to be
prompt and earnest in the noble under,
taking to which you are now invited.
In the quiet church-yard of Lexington.
| Lieutenant General "StonewalP Jack,
son lies; and now his great command
er sleeps near at hand. What holier
spot can there be to us than the com
mon home of these grand representa-
tive men? What more fitting monu-
ment for the Great army itself of which
Lee was the head, the pride and glory
than one raised here by its survivors
perpetuating alike the memory of hi:
and their own great deeds, the enduring
witness at once of his heroic qualities
as a man, his virtues as patriot, and
his gtaces as a Christian; the remem'
brance of which will indeed outlive the
marble and the bronze which human
art may fashion in his honor.
w. II. PENDLEToN,
Late Chief Artillery A. N. Va,
Chairman of Ex. Come.
The following officers have been Sc.
lected and requested to act as President