The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-07-29
rms LETTER was oprnsEp PROM GENERAL
rvsa FAMILY.

TII1B LETTER WAB ObfDHh" fhoa rh'"""
fEE's FAMILY.
Dr. Jones obtained the copy OF this letter
from the family OF General Lee, aud there
can be no doubt As TO rs authenticity. y
will be seen faat General Lee, In submit
Ting the proposition for the interview
saws: eel am authorized to do whatever
the proposed interview may render neces'
sary or advisable" and he could have re-
ceived bis Authority from no other than MT
Davis himself. In saying, therefore, that,
che General Lee] said to me that some
time before, during the winter, he urged
mon Mr.. Dayis The desirabiIity OF making
terms with General Grant. He detailed 10
me some OF the conversations with Mr.
Davis, which | do not BOW recall. Davis,
he said, would not listen to the proposition,
and insisted that he must fight 10 the last"
either General Malone has not told the
| truth or General Lee did not tell the truth
when, in his letter TO Grant, he said that
he was authorized TO do whatever the
proposed interview may render necessary
| or advisable Can there be any doubt In
the mind Of any one Us to whose veraeity IS
at fault?
| GENERAL MAHONE'S FURTHER STATEMENT
| ABOUT GENERAL LEE.
1 -nauOnt luTlutI says tboh 49,
evinced so much feeling in reference TO
Dir. Davis that incl sand;
"'I wish YOU had called conference OF
your officers after Davis's refusal
"'What would they have doneT said
Lee.
"'They would have taken the matter
into their own hands, said |, and author
lied you TO deal with the matter according
10 your own Judgment
"General Lee thought a moment, and
then said:
GET Is too late to remedy mistakes
now.N
No one acquainted with General Lee, and
who bad a true conception Of his character,
can for a moment believe that, although
overwhelmed with grief at the necessity Of
surrendering the remnant OF the army lie
had so long and so glOriously led, he would
have heard with any liberation such a sug-
oestion as Malone processes to have made 10
| him. In that dreadful hour even the spirit
of the true soldier would have famed with
| indignation at the bare suggestion that be
could under any circumstances have headed
a mutiny OF his army. The insinultiOn in
| tended by the last words quOled-that Gene
raj Lee discovered too late that he had made
mistake in not appealing TO his officers 10
engage in O mutlny against the Govern
meni-is gross insult to his memory, and
the intimation that his officers would have
engaged in such mutiny Is an insult to all
OF them except to him who has made the
| intimatiOn.
AT WAR WITH GENERAL LEES CHARACTER.
II il is intended to intimate that General
| Lee exhibited any feelings Of Indignation
against Mr.. Davis, or want OF respect for bim,
| in the remarks he IS said to have made TO Ma
hone, the exhibition or any such feeling or
want Of respect was ut war with his whole
character. General Lee was n gentleman,
essentially a gentleman OF the highest type,
at all times and under all circumstances.
| He never spoke with double tongue. At
all times, and under all circumstances, he
IeXpresSed aud manifested the greatest re-
spect and regard for MIR. DAVIS. DR.. JOnes's
book contains the following letter from him
to Mr.. Davis:
"LEXINGrON, Va, June /, 1867.
" Hon. jefferson DauiS:
"My Dear Mr.. Dlyis,-You can conceive
| better than | can express the misery which
your friends have suffered from your long
| imprisonment and the other affections incl
dent thereto. To none has this been more
painful than to me, and the impOssibility Of
atfOrdlng relief has added to my distress.
| Your release has lifted load from my heart
which ! have not words to tell, and my
| daily prayer to the Great Ruler OF the World
is that He may shield you from all future
| harm, guard you from all evil, and give you
that peace which the world cannot take
away.
"That the rest OF your days may be
triumphanlly happy is the sincere and earn
| ~ mi gb Of ohio 1iouf faifbfnI
friend and servant, II. Z. Lee"
GENERAL LEES RESPECT AND REGARD FOR
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
II General Lee had uttered at Appomat.
fox to William Malone or TO any other
what he Is reported to have said, then he
could not truthfuIy have signed himself the
"falthiul friend " Of Jefferson Davis. There
are other letters given from General Lee to
other persons, in which he expresses the
highest respect for Mr.. Davis, and deplores
all attempts to cast odium upon him, which
| he SAYS cannot be successful with the re-
| hecting portion OF the community.
And now, in conclusion, the question
which heads this communication is repeat
ed: Did General Lee designate William Ma
hone as the person he desired to succeed
| him in the command Of the Confederate
| forces in the event OF his own death, and did
he take him into bis cOunsels Us trusted
confidential adviser?
II the answer is in the affirmative, then
there arises another question: Why did not
General Lee leave on record some intima-
ton OF his appreciation Of the man whom
be esteemed so highly as o designate him az
| the most suitable successor OF himself?
And another: Why did he not, by his assO-
alton with and department towards that
man after the close OF the war, manifest TO
the world the high estimation in which be
| held him.
But General Lee died and made no sign
| from which it could be inferred that he es-
teemed William Malone az anything more
! than a very ordinary mortal; and DO sensi-
| Bile, candid man can put his hand on bis
heart and trutbfully say that he has the
slightest faith in the alleged declaration.
O. T. ID.