The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-12-15
The Senate and General Lee.


Kentucky instructive lesson though it be,
will awaken in the breast OF every sober
thinking Soutbesner as much OF regret as OF
irritation. 1t was proposed that committee
be appointed to inquire whether General
Lee had any right or title to the Arlington
1 estate, which made it liable to forfeiture on
account of his participation in the rebellion,
and it was desired that the estate be re-
stored to Mrs. Lee and her children, If it
we're found that the property was theirs
alone. There was no evidence of desire
on the part OF Senator McCreery to lure
Congress into even tacit approval OF the
cause of secession. 1t was merely asked
that the Arlington estate might be returned
to it's right:ul owners, if it were known to
have been wrongfully taken away from
them. Senator McCreery did, as he might
properly do, eulogize the virtue, the valor
and the. military genius OF our Great Cap
tain; nor did he so one step too far in de-.
manding justice for the noble Virginia ma
tron, who belongs to q race fond OF bestow-
ing charity which poverty cannot force
them to accept. But the Senate took alarm,
and the midest words spoken on the Radi-
cal side were those Of Senator Edmunds,
who avowed his regret that General Lee
had not died in his youth, or in his "patri-
"otic manhood, or by the hand Of the exc
cutioner
Senator Morton branded General Lee as
the {" great sinner" Senator Scott stigma
tized him as the "chief conspirator;;" sena-
tor Nye denounced him :" a traitor" Sena-
tor Turner was willing-as the whole South
is willng-to hand General-Lee over to
the avenging pen Of history" 1t was to
be expected that body which, with ghoul-
ish glee, could revle and insult the foremost
man of his time should boast OF the
unparalleled magnauimity which pre-
vented it from according to the dead hero
and his family the impartial justice which is
the right uf the poorest and humblest citizen.
This it is which causes US a deep regret.
Northern statesmen, Northern journalists,
Northern citizens appeal to the South to
bury the past and unite with them in defend
ing the common country, and in maintain
ing and increasing its prosperity General
B. F. Butler goes so far as to indulge in the
belief that the old Confederates are anxious
| to fight once more under the Haunting flag
OF the Union. And these appeals have not
been without effect. We have tried, and
are trying, to allay animosity, and to show
by our conduct that We have On interest IN
the whole country, and are ready 10 march
with the East and the West, side by side, in
the paths of amity aud peace. There is but
one reservation. The South cannot, and
will not, efIace from her loving memory the
unselhsh soldiers, bone OF her bone and flesh
OF her flesh, who gave up their lives during
the war between the States. And what the
South cannot do herself, she will not coun-
tenance in others. Wha, we ask is that our
dead brothers be permitted to rest in peace (;
that there shall be no contumely for those
who fell-uo up6raidug for those who sur
yived the carnage of the years OF blood,
identified with the names OF Jackson and
Lee, Jenkins and Gregg, Johnston and Bee;
no reproach upon the ten thousand South
Carolinians whose blood incarnadined the
sands of the coast and the forests OF the
Caroinas rs we'll as the historic fields OF
Virginia Only silence! This was notmuch
to ask or expect.
But the Senate OF the United States nocks
at our sorrows aud jeers at our bereavement.
The grave senators heap scorn and abuse
upon the head of him who was the repre-
sentative Christian soldier of the South.
They declare that bald suggestion that
plain justice be done to him who was just
and merciful to ALL is insulting and shock
"ing" to the sense Of "the Senate and the
"country," and is, besides, ;'abhorrent 10
humanity" Is this charity? Is this mag
nanimity? Is this patriotism! Is this the
way to soften the hearts and win the coufi-
dence of twelve millions of people who rev.
erence General Lee Us gentleman without
stain, and soldier without reproach? We
say, emphatically, that while Congress talks
in this strain it is impossible that the coun-
try should be united 1t is impossible that
any Southerner can have title Of liking or
respect for men of the stamp Of Sumner and
Davis, Morton and Scott They draw the
dividing line between us and them. They
must make atonement ere they can clasp
hands with any soldier OF the South.
And yet we hope! We hope that these
malignant politicians do not represent the
wishes and thoughts Of the intelligence and
virtue of the Northern and Western States.
It is possible, as we know by sad experience,
for u whole people TO be misrepresented and
betrayed by those who are, in name, the
guardians OF their welfare and the exponents
f, OF their opinions We appeal, then, from
the senators to the Legislative bodies which
elected them, and from those bodies to the
millions OF Americans who know what man
hood is, and have no sympathy with shul1ing
renegade or political 6uffoon. The South,
we tell them, can be won by justice and re-
spect, but it cannot be won by SANDER and