The evening times., 1895-09-10
GUARDS LEES TOMB.
Old Uncle Tom Was His Body Ser.
want in War Times.

want In war lines
Having spent two days recently in
Lexington, Va, among the ballowed memo
ries of that ancient town, it then occurred
to NE how strange it must appear to our
Northern brother that the tomb and mag
nificent recumbent statue of Gen. R. f. Lee
should be kept and sacredly guarded. as
it is, by q colored man." says a CORE
spondent of the Baltimore Sun.
$50, too, is Gen. Lees office, just as he
left it. tables, desk, lounge, chairs, table,
covers, papers and letters. and everything,
even down to his inkstand and penholders,
in personal charge ofgood old Uncle Tom.
Nor is it an easy task to guard and
preserve these venerated relics from the
profane and desecrating hand of the relic
hunting vandal. Yet with the sharp eye,
brave heart, and strong arm of the faithful
sentinel there remains Uncle Tom, worthy
defender of those sacred things. May
his tribe increased
"On one occasion in showing the statue
to a party of seventeen Northern gentlemen
he told them, as usual. that his old master
was the greatest general in the world and
the best man.
What! Do you, colored man, say
that of this man inour presence asked one
of the number.
." Yes, I would say that before ten thou
sand men, said Uncle Tom, and added: If
you all had er had him, de W ah W ooder been
over long befo it vus.'
1.-THE one young man in the party said:
Yes, he was a good man, Uncle, but he was
on the wrong Sue
''ThereupOn an old soldier, who was
present, replied: But how many are there
who think to the Contrary, and this great
man conscicntiousIy Thought otherwise,
living ard dying hero in the hearts of
his countrymen, with the respect and ad-
miration, too, of the whole North and all
the world
And now let me report to whom it may
concern what Uncle Tom impaired to me
concer ming his relationship with that
mighty captain of the valorous Confeder-
ate hosts. He began by saying in his dia-
lect that he had enjoyed the proud privi-
lege and distinction of being close to the
great general in camp life for four long
years, and that never once, in all that trying
time, had he heard him utter a cross, impa-
tient, or improper word to man OF beast.
1t must be admitted that a relationship
of so long a period as that Is, indeed, close
and who would be a closer OBJ
server of the great mans character and
daily demeanor than that untutored brother
of color? No severer critic is a man
likely to have than his own valet, body serv-
ant, or cook; or at least the foihles and short
comings of the man of mark could have no
greater or more perilous exposure than that
to the scrutiny of hisse ant under condition
such as those in which Uncle Tom served
his beloved MASTER as he was wont to
call the great general. He was master
and father to me, toO,' said Uncle Tom.
Thus re-enforced Uncle Tom said he en-
joyed the speech of that good old soldier,
once a brave adversary on the field OF blood
and strife. Then the young man retorted-
"'Well, he got whipped, anyhow
'whupt, whuptr blurted Uncle Tom
Does you call it whupt, sab. eff when like as
hotel whole parcul of men would set upon
you and bind you down? Now. dat's de way
de general was whupt, sab, and only dat
way
Then Uncle Tom told me personally that
on some occasions de Yankees had two hun
drcd 10 one.' In telling him that was in
the old Stonewall Brigade, early and late,
he became fervently eloquent in laudations,
the loudcst and most emphatic, of my invin-
chile old commander.
$50, taking him through and through,
think it would be hard to find a more devout
love for the South and its institutions thap
that OF Uncle Tom"