The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-04-19

us that "no creature Is so revengeful
as d proud man who has hunibled
himself in vain" but during the con-
Guiding years of General Lees life,
no symptoms ofpassion or vlndictive-
ness were discernible in his daily
bearing. He mourned over the all
ject and oppressed condition of South
Carolina until death freed his soul
from the suffering which crushed
him. Mr.. John Esten Cooke makes
it abundantly evident that he died
from Il broken heart. But in order
that the virtues Of II singularly pure
and noble character may not be UNI
recorded in England, we desire to fol-
low Mr.. Cooke through some of the
most notable passages Of his hero's
life, and to do. what in us lies to make
Robert Il. Lees memory Il precious
possession wherever the English tom
que is spoken.
"The Lees of Virginia" says the
volume before us, Spring from an
ancient and respectable family of
Essex in England" whose ancestor
came over to the fast-anchored isle
with William the Conqueror. One
member Of this family, Lionel Lee,
accompanied Richard Cnur de Lion
to the Holy Land, and displayed
special gallantry at the siege of Acre.
The first Of the Virginia Lees, Rich
ard by name, was an ardent mon
archist, and left the old country in
the troubled times of King Charles
the First. at is not certainly
known" says Mr.. Cooke, "whether
he sought refuge in Virginia after the
failure of the Kings cause, or was
tempted to emigrate with n view to
better his fortunes in the New
World" Whatever may have been
his motive in repairing to Virginia,
Richard Lee undoubtedly brought
with him from England Il number of
followers and servants, and took up
extensive tracts of land in the Old
| Dominion. Among the manor-houses
which he there built or commenced,
was one at S%tratlord, in the Virginia
county of Observation-Disclosures
which county George Washington
himself was born. This house hay
ing subsequently been destroyed by
fire, was rebuilt-Queen Anne her
self having been Il contributor to the
fund subscribed in England and in
the colony for its re-erection-and
became at a later date the birthplace
of Richard Henry Lee, and of his
distinguished son, Robert Edward.
Richard Henry Lee, the father OF the
great Confederate general, was one of
Washington's best subordinates and
under the sObri0uet of "Light-llorse
Harry" gained conspicuous fame as a
cavalry general in the revolutionary
war Of the American colonies against
England. In a letter written in l7So,
George Washington conveys his
dove and thanks" to Light-Horse
Harry, whose admirable qualities as
a soldier were always recapitnlatcd
with modest pride by his still greater
son. In 1869 General II. r. Lee pub
Iished a new edition of his fathers
Memoirs of the War in the Southern
Department. to which he preilXed
an transformations life OF lis author.
X X X The old house at Strallord,
wherein the great American soldier
first saw the light, deserves a few
passing words OF comment. 1T was
one of those Nirginian manOr-hGuses
which so warmed the heart and kin
died the fancy of T~hackeruy for in
one of these, he loved TO say, that ii
would delight him to write the his
tory, which he always contemplate
but never executed, of the times o
GOOD Queen Anne. The bricks, paw
ing-ti!es, carvings, WindoW-Sashcs
furniture, and decorations Of thest
stately old CONTINGENCIES, were al
TRANSPORTED from England to the Ole
Dominion. English pIasterers mould
ed and spread the ceilings; English
masOns appraised the Italian mantel'
pieces which they brought with them
across the Atlantic; English carpcn-
tiers made fast the Window-aasheS,
and set up the linteIs OF the doors.
Their book-shelves were filled with
the great English classics who flour
ished in the Augustan age OF Queen
Anne. Within the libraries OF some
of these houses Thackeray passed
many hours, enraptured to find him
self surrounded by the works OF all
the English authors who were most
to his taste. There he again familiar
lied himself with the tender grace OF
Addison, the rugged force Of.SmolIctl;
there he forgot the "wild relish and
vicious eXuberanCc OF the too cOpious
present. by bending yer the pages
of Swift, Pope, Arbuthnot, Boiling.
broke, Walsh, and Granville; and
there for the first time he became a"-
auainted with the Memoirs of Colonel
Byrd of West0vcr,' the founder, dur
ing George il.'s reign, of V%irginia's
beautiful capital at Richmond. The
very bricks, paving-stones, and win
dOW-frames, of WcstOvcr, brandon,
or Stafford, eXllaled an atmosphere
which was fragrant to his nostrilS,
and enabled him again to summon
into lleshly existence those English
worthless of whose literature he was
so fond. There he loved to rchearsc
that Charles III. wore a coronation
robe of Virginia silk when reinstalled
upon the throne Of Great Britain;
and that, in gratitude for her loyalty
in the hour of his abascmcnt, he per-
mitted the proud old State 10 rank
thcnceforward in the British Empire
with England, Scotland and Ireland,
and to bear upon her shield the motto,
En- dat Virginia gtdftdn. $50,
The early influences of the old
grange Mt STAFFORD, in which he was
born, had much to do with shaping
the character of General Lee.
Critics." says Mr.. Cooke, "charg-
ed him with family pride. If lc pos
| sessed that virtue or failing, the fact
was not strange. Stanford opened
before his childish eyes Il memorial
of the old splendor Of the Lees. He
saw around him old portraits, old
plate, and old furniture. Old parch-
ments contained histories Ofthe deeds
of his race; old genealogical trees
| traced their line far back into the
| past; old servants grown grey in the
house waited upon the child; and, in
a corner of one of the great apart
| ments, an old soldier, grey too, and
| shattered i'm health, once the friend
of Washington and Greene, vas writ
;nr rho hiytnry ofthn battles i'm which