The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-01-03
Cen. RSbsrt n. I,ess,s n 49,,

-C0uraer.J JorrQQL has 4NkN3l66d tosthat5
papeEpoqR y luable ,pif5ohsi 1ssafnfsfI
oSnee and ome indd4ps fe6ms 3tbf;
hBS. 4f the q tse Memorial Hoj6sas; sts,! toss;
AioAihe has Ahd eoosss. Itiss sb1ta aeE
dom. in this worlds history, i that, ,sSSiif
and so many extraordinary airtneS: :afs
;oombinetf insthe oharactsr df ibis man
The record should be cherished by our
people. old, and iGupgL LIS insttdcdve
and inapiripg~ We copy y.it-as.peouliasly-
appropriate to Anew Years, Day. when
men pause aud look both before and be-
hind them, making up their account for
the past and seeking guidance for tho
future. Here is an example which all
may profit by, though they muy not lite
rally follow 1t: ljt r.
If any public man coulI1be justified
in receiving gifts from his friends, Gen.
Lse could surely have been. Leaving ut
moments notice the splendid estate ut
Arlington to become tho prey of his enc
mics, and nearly all of his property
being within hostile lines and beyond his
reach-his scant salary in Confederate
scrip being utterly inadequate to support
in proper style his Invalid wife and &C.
compllshed daughters-it was the uni
versal wish Of the people for whom he
provision for his family should be made.
Accordingly, in the winter of 81. the
City Council OF Richmond unanimously
voted to present him with handsome
house, ind appointed committee to
make tho nnrCbaaa a notioa &c
this in tho papers, Gen. L.e at once
wrote to the President of The Council,
expressing his grateful appreciation of
the kindness meant, but begging that no
further steps should be taken in the mat
ter, as he should be compelled to decline
the offer. Il shnll be but little in R,ch-
mond myself" wrote the noble man,
"an,l my family are as comfortable as
taed have right to be these times. If
you have money to invest in that,way, I
beg TINT yon will give it to the families
or our private soldiers, who are more
needy and more deserving than myself" I"
Various other offers Of q similar na.
ture were respectfully but firmly de-
c.ined
At the close OF the war, offers Of as
sistanoe poured in upon him from every
quarter. An English nobleman, suppos-
Ing that he would rejoice in quiet re-
treat from the scenes Of his great strug-
gle and the disasters that had como upon
his native South, wrote him feeling
letter, in which he offered him q country
seat and an annuity of $4,000. The
General was deeply touched by this
offer, and wrote a feeling reply, in which
he made his grateful acl1no owledgments,
but declined the offer, saying: 81 cannot
consent to desert my native State in n'ttho
hour OF her extromity. I must abide
her fortunes and share her fate
Soon after he became President OF
Washington College, q large insurance
company rendered him it's presidency, at
a salary Of $40, 900 per annum. He told
the agent who brought the proposition.
that he could not discharge his duties in
Lhe college and accept these new ones.
"But, General" said the eager agent,
"we do not wish you to have any duties
in connection with the pluce we offer
you. The mere uso Of your name is all
We ask, and that will amply reimburse us
for our outlay"
EXCUSE me, sir" was the prompt and
emphatic reply; II cannot consent to
receive pay for services do not ronler,
or to accept. under any consideration, u
gratuiiy."
To large number OF similar off.rs, he
always gave the same reply.
Not long before his fatal illness, hs
Was offered salary of $50, 900 per IN.
mum to go to New York and be the head
of certain wealthy corporation there;
but he at once and in the most emphatic
terms refused the offer, saying that no.
thing conld tempt him to leave his post,
where he was ''training the yonng men
Of the South to do their duty in life. Z"
Not all the gold Of California could
Tempt him to syeryc. one inch from the
path Of duty. {
The authorities OF Washington College
we're always anxious to pay Gen. Lee
such salary as their appreciation of his
services and the expectations of the pub.
lie seemed to demand.
But when they saw the college expand
under his able management and wide in.
huonce, until its number of students had
increased from seventy (beforo the war)
to All, and it's utterly PROSTATE finances
had 80 recuperated that they hnd beon
enabled to increase tho corps OF instruc-
tors from five to twenty-five, they felt
that every principle of common justice
demanded that the Presidents SALARY