Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-01
hrs Lee.

There Is one thing more / want to
say. Though our dead soldiers pos
sess the pleasant grounds of Airing
ton fOrever-hOld them by The most
sacred and awful right, as by title
deeds written in blood believe
government should pay to Mrs. Lee
her valuation Of the property now so
invaluable to US. 1t was hers by
birthright. 1t continued to be hers
by a higher than legal right. She
did not forfeit it by an overt, indi-
vidual act Of treason. / know that It
has been said that she ate first Of the
maddening apple of secession, and
then tempted him, and he did eat,
and 50 their paradise was lost. But
this is a mere mannish hypothesis,
which / find no reason to accept. He
acted for and by himself in breaking
his oath Of allegiance, and in turning
his sword against the country that
had taught him how to use 1t. She
was not a citizen, but q wife, and,
first Of all, according to prevailing
ideas, owed loyalty TO her husband.
Surely the conservative gentlemen Of
the Senate who accept the poets lofty
ideal Of true wOmaniy devotion,
know not, I ask not II quilts 10 thy heart,
know that love thee whatever thou art,
should give Mrs. Mary Custis Lee all
honor, instead Of speaking Of her
slightingly as shat lCOm0H." Had
she fed from the COnfederacy, repu-
dated her rebel husband, and sought
sanctuary and release in Indiana,
would even Senator Morton hold her
in higher esteem? Or had she been
loyal and lOng-sighted enough to hoist
the old flag owe Arlington and
stand guard over her effects, would
not gentlemen have said: "Here is a
matrOn Of Roman virtue, plucky and
strOng-minded; a woman to be adj
mired, but not loved" Her name
has for me the charm Of great assOcia-
tons, as that of the daughter of the
beloved, adopted son of Washington.
I respect her love for the grand old
place, the home of her childhood but
aside from these things, I protest
against the injustice AM Larshness of
making her suffer more severely than
many of the ringleaders of the rebel
lion have suffered. L think Mr.. Pat
terson is mistaken in saying that she
"hed away into the Storm" before
her husband. From an old servant
Of the family, / have heard that
she fingered in her home till her hUs-
band had repeatedly written to her
TO join him; that before leaving, she
packed up such valuables as she could
not carry, precious heirlOOms and pa
pers, and left them to the honorable
custody OF our sOldiers-(O woman,
great was thy faitht); that, at the
last, she went alIabOUt the house and
grounds, and to the graves Of her
father and mother, weeping bitterly.
l have also heard that when the time
set, by the will Of her father, for the
emancipation of certain slaves, ar
rived, she promptly and hOnOrably
sent through our lines such rs she had
with her in Richmond.
As we are in the fOrgiviug line, can
we not forgive this heart-brOken wife
and mother, and make her old age
comfortable by generously paying for
the noble inheritance forfeited by no
crime of hers, unless il be a crime to
stand by a beloved husband, whom
in her happy youth she took 3fOr bet
ter, for WOrse?" May we not believe
that the august spirit of Washington
himself would approve Of such an act
of magnanimity toward the daughter
Of George Washington Custis-the
dear little lad whom he sOlemnly
adopted by the deathbed Of a brave
young father, who died in the service
Of the Republic?
In this matter 1 have simply spo-
ken my feeling as a woman, and for a
WOman.-Tri6J4le Washington Letter.