The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1870-12-02

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the United States, and felt it wrong to &C
cept pla &c in the army of q foreign power
Such was his extreme delicacy, such was
the nice sense of honor of the gallant gen.
tleman we deplore. But when Virginia
withdrew-the State whom he owed his
first and last allegiance-th same nice
sense of honor led him to draw his sword
and throw it in the scale for good
or evil. Pardon me for this brief defense
of my illustrious friend. When Virginia
joined the Confederacy, Robert Lee, the
highest officer in the little army of Virgin
ia, came to Richmond, and, not pausing
to inquire what would be his rank in the
service of the Contederacy, went to West
/ Virginia under the belief that he was still
an officer of the State. He came back,
carrying the heavy weight of defeat, and
nnappreciated by the people whom he
served, for they could not know, as knew,
that if his plans and orders had been car
riage out, the result would have been VIC
tory rather than retreat You did not
know, for l would not have known had he
not breathed it in my ear only at my ear
nest request, and begging that nothing be
said about it. The clamor which then
arose followed him when he went to South
Carolina, so that it became necessary on
his going to South Carolina to write long
letter to the Governor of the State, telling
him what manner of man he was.
lie, through all this, with magnanimi-
ty rarely equalled, he stood in silence,
without defending himselfor allowing 9th
ers to defend him, for he was unwilling to
offend any one who was wearing sword
or striking blows for the Confederacy. Mr..
Davis then spoke of the straits to which
the Confederacy was reduced, and the dan
ger to which her capital was exposed after
the battle of Seven Pines, and told how
General Lee had conceived and executed
the desperate plan to turn their flank and
rear, which, after seven days of the bloody
battle, was crowned with the protection of
Richmond, while the enemy was driven
from the city. The speaker referred also
to the circumstances attending General Lees
crossing the Potomac and the march into
Pennsylvania. He (Mr Davis assumed
the responsibility for that movement. The
enemy had long been concentrating his
force, and it was evident that if they con-
tinued their steady progress the Confeder-
acy would be overwhelmed Our one hope
was to drive him to the defence of his own
capital, and we being enabled in the mean
time to reinforce our shattered army.
How well General Lee carried out that
dangerous experiment need not to be told.
Richmond was relieved, the Confederacy
was relieved, and time was obtained, if
other things had favored to reinforce the
army. But, said Mr.. Davis, I shall not at
tempt to review the military career of our
fallen chieftain. OF the man, how shall I
speak 2 He was my friend, and in that
word is included all that I could say of
any man. His moral qualities rose to the
height ofhis genius. Self-denying, always
intent upon the one idea of duty self CON
trolled to an extent that many thought him
cold, his feelings were really warm, and his
heart melted freely at the sight of wound
ed soldier, or the story of the sufferings of
the widow and orphan. During the war
he was ever conscious of the Inequality
of the means at his control, but it was
never his to complain or to utter a
doubt-it was always his to do. When in
the last campaign he was beleaguered at
Petersburg, and painfully aware of the
straits to which he was reduced, he said
with my army in the mountains of Vir-
ginia | could carry on this war for twenty
years longer" His men exhausted and his
supplies falling, he was unable to carry out
his plans. An untoward event caused him
to anticipate the movement, and the Army
OF Northern Virginia was overwhelmed
But in the surrender he anticipated condi-
tions that have not been fulfilled-he ex-
pected his army to be respected and his
paroled soldiers to be allowed the enjoy
ments of life and prosperity. Whether
these conditions have been fulfilled let
others say. Here he now sleeps in the land
he loved so we'll and that land is not Vir-
ginia only, for they do injustice'to Lee who
believe he fought only for Virginia, He
was ready to go any where on any service
for the good of his country, and his heart
was as broad as the fifteen States struggling
for the principles that our forefathers
fought for in the Revolution of 1776. He
sleeping in the same soil with thousands
who fought under the same flag, but first
offered up their lives. Here the living are
assembled to honor his memory, and there
the skeleton sentinels keep watch over his
grave. This citizen, this soldier, this
great general, left behind him the crown
ing glory of true Christian. His Christi
anity ennobled him in life, and affords us
grounds for the belief that he is happy be-
You'd the grave. But, while we mourn
the loss of the great and true, drop we
also tears of sympathy with her who
was his helpmeet in life-the noble woman
who, while her husband was in the field
leading the army of the Confederacy,
though an invalid herself, passed the time
in knitting socks for the marching SOL
diers! A woman fit to be the mother of
heroes and heroes are descended from
her. Mourning with her, we can only offer
the consolation Of Christian. Our loss is
not his, for he now enjoys the reward
OF IL never-wavering trust in risen Sa-
viour This day we unite our words of sor,
row with those of the good and great
throughout Christendom, for his fame has
gone over the waters. His deeds will be
remembered and when the monument we
build shall have crumbled into dust, his
virtues will live, a high model for the imi-
tation Of generations yet unborn.
THE ADAMS FAMILY.-The Memphis
appeal says: Perhaps no more illustriou.
record ola public man appears on the
pages of American history than that of Johr
Adams. And it is remarkable that botl
his son, John Quincy, and his grandson
Charles Francis, and his great grandson
John Quincy, Jr., are very little his inferi
ors. The great-grandson has already made
inf llnntuo1 ctri6nc which ovinna that ba IL