Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-10-22

reveal a similar plan. Humanity
Is q subject Of perpetual wonder,
but certain human beings carry
this wonder up to exhausting
heights Of admiration. The con-
ceptiOn Of q great and good man
lifts the soul up to the exstacy Of
adOriHg worship.
True greatness is the result Of
many agencies, Of many divine gifts,
and a happy combination Of men,
tel, moral and physical attributes.
In the general effect, produced by q
great person, we do not see the
slow methods. The tedious discip-
line, the efficacy Of protracted habits
upon the maturing characterize do
not see God at work, fashiOning the
man after the pattern in his own
mind. We do not see the
toiling excavators at work,
digging the foundations, nor
the strained muscles putting
heavy masses in their places, nor
the infinite inventions and successes
required in the erection of those
monuments OF human genius which
remain after ages to proclaim mans
triumph (; the senses are captivated
by the strength and beauty of the
structure-it Is only when we come
across the ruins Of some great work
of the ancients that we find expos
ed to the eye the lesson Of labor and
the arithmetic of cost in fitting TO-.
gether innumerable fragments 10
complete a design and realize an idea.
The processes of God are also
concealed In the finish of a perfect
man it Is only after such q man is
dead that men begin to trace the
causes, the growth and the contents
of such a character. The instincts
of our nature in the absence Of
any dictum of reason will often
cOnstrain us to assume relations
that are u~nalterably true though
speculations--may bring them into
dOubt-thus-were the Italian peO-
pie to be moved by some demon of
revenge to propose to demolish ST.
Peters Church the civilized world
would rise up with menaCing au-
thorIty to forbid the sacrilege or
were the conQuering Prussians to
begin the destruction Of the great
Strasburg Cathedral, peoples would
be ready to arm to stop or revenge
the outrage. But when II great man
dies, men bow their heads in the
solemn presence, defer to an au-
thOrity they cannot resist, and ifthe
pain of the shock seek utterance, II
is "Alas, who shall live when God
doeth this"
The death of great men makes
distinct the resistless authority Of
God-and while il promotes respect
for the Divine will, inclines men to
live in the fear Of God.
These thoughts are illustrated in
the death Of our noble iellow-citi'
zen. lie was a great man, and
there are certain unmistakeablC
providences associated with hi;
death. lie was to the Southern
, people the chief citizen Of theiI
country while living, and now thai
he is dead they will charge them
; selves and their children with Q
= sacred duty to commemorate hin
! as such.
The instincts of a people seldom
err-the deeper feelings of Tho
Southern people have set apart
Robert Edmund Lee as a great ant
a good man. With a strength anC
; icrvor of affection approaching
idolalry they have lifted him upon
q pedestal of immortality-fron
which the old and the young con
template him with patriotic pride
and personal affection. Already
he is Il model for those who admire
greatness and appreciate goodness
, Gen. Lee was distinguished fol
, the completeness of his character
: and the suiilciency of his abilities
, rather than for any single trait o
, genius.
The virtues of patriotism were n
conspicuous in him Is in thost
; whose title to fame rests
upon that single excellence. Hi
love for his country was a real
Il deep and an abiding sentiment
, adversely did not change his alice
tons nor aIter his Judgments, as hC
lived,so he died, constant to his OWL
: preferences. lie shared the COM
mon misfortune with such grace
i, that his example reconciled men Il
results which they were willing tC
, sacrifice their lives to change, anC
!, it is doubtful ifhe ever entertained
/, a wish for a change of fortune fol
himselfthat did not embrace all hi,
countrymen. In all this however
, he did not claim to be
=, nor was he superior to many
-, Some of whose names are alrcad!
forgotten, and it may even be tina
i, his own powerful spirit in the cri
{ sis of great internal conflicts, ma,
. have drawn inspiration from tn,
constancy of others; it might b.
. that he received sympathy from
a examples Of ACKNOWLEDGING an'
endurance of women whose iaitI
= never falterGd, whose courageneve
died.
General Lee was a great captain
but perhaps not superior in an
marked degree to some others whC
q with him, offered their swords t
their country. lie was the centr
e Ola group Of great captains. ii
a stood in their midst chief, because
,. in support of his qualities Of strai
egist and t~actician he presente
a character, so far as the human ey
q could inquire, that was almost,
not entirely faultless a characte