Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-10-04
ROBT. E.LEE'S CHARACTER.
DIR. H. NJ. Field in the New York Evangelist

at Lexington, looking at tnt IecuhiDen'
statue of General Lee. While standing
here, in the very presence of death, l am
moved to say few words in regard to the
life that ended in this tomb, and the char
acter of the man whose name is carved upon
this stone. AS l read history, and compare
the men who have figured in the events
that make hiStory-in wars and revolutions
it seems to me that General Lee was not
only great soldier, but great man, one
of the greatest that our country has pro-
duced After his death the college, which
had hitherto borne the name OF Washing
ton, by whom it was endowed, was re-
christened Washington and Lee University
A combination which suggests COMPARE
| son OF the two men whose names are here
brought together. Can we trace any like
ness between them? At first it seems as if
no characters, as we'll as no careers, could
be more alien to each other than those of
the two great leaders, one OF whom was the
founder of the Government which the
other did his utmost to destroy. But nature
brings forth her children in strange
couples, with reSemblanceS in some cases
as marked, and yet as unexpected as are
contrasts in others. Washington and Lee,
though born in different centuries, were
children of the same mother-Old Virginia
and had her best blood in their veins. De
scended from the stock of the English
cavaliers, both were born gentlemen"
and never could be anything else. Both
were trained in the school of war, and as
| leaders of armies it would not be a violent
assumption to rank Lee as the equal of
Washington. But it is not in the two sol
diers, but in the two men, that the future
historians will find points of resemblance.
Washington was not a brilliant man; not
"a man of genius" such as now and then
appears to dazzle mankind but he had
what was far better than genus-a combi-
nation OF all the qualities that win human
trust; in which Intelligence is so balanced
by Judgment, and exalted by character, as
to constitute a natural superiority; indica-
| ting one who is born to command, and to
whom all men turn, when their hearts are
failing them for fear" as a leader. He
was great not only in action but in repose;
great in his very calnl-in the fortitude
with which he bore himself through all
changes of fortune through dangers and
disasters, neither elated by victory nor de
pressed by defeat-mentalh abitudes which
many will recognize as reappearing in one
who seems to have formed himself upon
that great model.
Washington was distinguished for his
magnanimity; was not Lee also? Men in
public station are apt to be sensitive to
whatever concerns their standing before the
world, and so, while taking to themselves
the credit of success, they are strongly
tempted to throw upon others the blame of
failure. Soldiers especially are Jealous of
their reputation, and if a commander loses
battle his first impulse is to cast the obi
UNI of defeat upon some unfortunate officer.
Somebody blundered: this or that subordi-
nate did not do his duty. Military annals
are filled with these recriminations. If
Napoleon met with check in his mighty
plans, he had no scruple in laying it to the
misconduct of some lieutenant, unless, as
in Russia, he could throw it upon the ele-
ments, the wintry SHOWS and the frozen
| IiIr rnilnUn hlmSn1f from
the imputation Of the want of foresight or
provision for unexpected dangers. At
| Waterloo it was not he that failed in his
strategy, but Marshal Ney that failed in
the execution. In this respect General Lee
was exactly his opposite. If he suffered a
disaster he never sought to evade RESPONSE
bility by placing it upon others. Even in
the greatest reverse of his life, the defeat
at Gettysburg, when he saw the famous
charge of Pickett melt away under the ter
rible fire that swept the field, till the
ranks were literally torn to pieces by shot
and shell, he did not vent his despair in
rage and reproaches, but rushing to the
"t is all ma tauH" Perhaps no incident
of his life showed more the nobility Of his
nature.
! When the war was over General Lee had
left to him at Lexington about the same
number of years that Napoleon had at st.
1GIolld, dllu IL u6 Haul lldu Gl16 SdlllC uGSlIG
to pose for pOsterity in the part of the IL
lustrious exile, This mountain home would
have furnished as picturesque back
goound as the rocky island in the south
Atlantic, from which he could have die
tated Conversations that should furnish
the materials of history. He need not have
written OF published single lineif he had
only been willing to let others do it for
him. BY their pens he had opportunity to
tell of the great part he had acted in the
war in way to make the whole chain of
events contribute to his fame. But he SEEM
ed to care little for fame, and indeed was
unmoved when others claimed the credit OF
his victories If it be, as Pascal says, 1.-THE
trueSt mark of great mind is to be born
without envy" few men in history have
shown more of this greatness than he. And
when, as was sometimes the case, old COM
panions- in-arms reflected upon him to eX-
cuse their own mistakes, he had only t(
lift the veil from the secrets of history tC
confound them. But under all such temp
OF sad was more truly grand than the
silence with which he bore the msrepresen
tations Of friend OF foe. This required a
self-command such as Washington had moi
to exercise at the end OF his military
career; for he retired from the scene crown
ed with victory, with whole nation at hi:
feet ready to do him honor; while Lee haC
to bear the reproach of the final disaster-a
reproach in which friends sometimes Joined
with foes. Yet to both he answered only
with the same ajestic calm-the outward
sign of his magnificent self-control. Sucl
magnanimity belongs to the very highest
order of moral qualities and shows char
acter rare in any country OF in any age
This impression of the man does moi
grow less with closer observation. Will
the larger number of great men, the
greatness is magniaed by distance and sep
aration. AS we come nearer they dWindle
in statue till, when we are in their very
face, they are found to be but men like
ourselves, and sometimes very ordinary
men-with some special ability perhaps
which gives them success i'll the world, bu
who for all that are full of the selfishnes.
which is the very essence of meannesS an(
puffed up with a paltry conceit and van
ity that stamps them as little rather thai
great
Far different was the impression made
by General Lee upon those who saw hin
in the freedom of private intercourse l
might be expected that the soldiers wht
fought under him should speak with admi
ration and pride of their old commander
but how did he appear to his neighbors
Here in Lexington everybody knew him
at least by sight; they saw his manner o.
life from day to day i'll his going out ant
his coming in, and on all the impression
was the same; the nearer he came to then
the greater he seemed Every one has SOM
anecdote to tell of him, and it is always O
something that was noble and loyahle
Those who knew him best loved him mos
and revered him most. This was not
greatness that was assumed, that was pu
on like military cloak; it was in the man
and could not be put on OF put off it wa
the greatness which comes from the yer,
absence of pretension.
And those who came the closest to hin
give us still further insight into his ma
ture, by telling us thai what struck tAeii
most was the extent of his sympathy
Soldiers are commonly supposed to be colo
and hard-a temper of mind to which they
are Injured by their very profession. Those
whose business is the shedding OF blooC
are thought to delight in human suffering
1t is hard to believe that a soldier can have
very tender heart Yet few men wer'
more se4sitiye to 9t he HalRR than tn dsneta
that with his manly strength there wa
united an almost WoWanly Sweetness,
was this gentlenbss which made him great
and which has enshrinea him forever in TIN
hearts of his people.