The Charlotte Democrat., 1896-07-30

that something from old Virginia would
be fitting mark of respect to an institu-
ton that had educated SO many students
from the South. 1t would have been
looked upon as & pleasant incident of the
commencement if the clergyman to whom
was assigned the pleasant part of dedicat,
ing a statue of the late President WooIsev
bad not gone out of his way to speak of
this planting as if it were not only a folly
but crime. To quote The Eyangelist's
own reference to it, in speaking of Presi>
dent Woolsey's loyalty to the Union, he
added an expression of the horror with
which he woulu have contemplated the
planting Of an ivy from the grave Of Gen.
eral Leel That the name of a man who.
though good, "was loyal to an Infamous
cause" should be linked with Yale on the
very day chosen for honoring the memory
of that illustrious scholar, teacher, think
er, ruler, citizen, benefactor," President
Woolsey, made the act all the more inap-
propriate!
Now, although this comes from so high
authority as Dr.. Twichell, and is endors.
ed by the equally high authority of the
writer of the paragraph to which | have
referred, | must take lhe liberty of differ
ing from both. The preacher protests
against the ivy, and protest against the
protesto1! Looking at it from this dis
tance, the planting of the ivy seems to
me perfectly proper, and the censure up
on it in the worst possible taste!
It is not necessary that The Evange-
list should make any declaration Of loyal
ty. Its history may speak for itself Dur
ing the war no paper in the country was
more constant in it's appeals to stand by
the Government and the Union; in proof
of which it was sent by the Christian
Commission in tens of thousands all over
the field of conflict, and read by the SOL
ders as they sat around their camp fires.
But when the war was over, and our
| great commander said. "Let US have
peace!" we took him at his word, and be-
| leved that the best service we could rem.
der our country, was not only to forbear
from fighting, but to cultivate a kindly
and tender spirit one toward another.
In this the old soldiers themselves set
us an example. When General Grant was
borne to his grave, he had among the sim
cerIst mourners those who had fought by
| his side. In that long procession through
the streets of New York, with million of
spectators, 1 rode with Bishop Potter be-
hind his bier; and in the next carriage
were two great leaders of armies, Gener>
al Sherman and General Johnston, who
| had fought desperately against each 9th
er in that great campaign to Atlan~
ia; aud in the next carriage Phil Sheri-
dan was seated beside General Buckner,
who surrendered at Fort Donaldson.
Was there any compromise of principle
in these brave men riding with their old
antagonists? Was it all piece of false
hood and hypocrisy? Or was there not
something infinitely touching in the press
ence of these old warriors, all whose strifes
and conflicts were buried in the grave?
| But perhaps the preacher thought that
the part of General Lee in the Civil War
was one that should never be forgiven
because he was the leader of the South,
ern hosts, and did more than any other
man to sustain the Southern cause. Be
it sci But shall we forget what we owe
to him after the war? When at last it
came 10 an end, the South was left ex-
hausted, but with the fires still shoulder
ing, that might at any moment break out
into new confagration. Under the
show of peace there might have been q
settled, sullen hatred between the North
and the South, that would have been
handed down from sire to son; from gen.
GRAFTON to generation, like war between
the Spaniard and the Moor. That we did
not have sdch legacy of hatred and O
blood, we owe to two men-General Grant
and General Lee. The former, as the
victorious leader, was the only man who
had the power 10 enforce the conditions
of peace, even against the administration
itself. There were men in the cabinet
of Andrew Johnston who had a ferocious
eagerness to arrest General Lee in spite
of all the conditions on which be had sur.
rendered, and to try him by court martha
"a purpose that might have been carried
out but for General Grant, who declared
that he would resign instantly from th c
army if the Government did not abandon
this policy of revenge!
And what did General Lee do? H. did
what no other man could have done, be.
cause he had the unbounded confidence
OF the Southern people; be checked and
caImed the feeling of bitterness that, il
not thus restrained, might have finally
exploded IN another war! All who came
to blm for counsel, he advised to submit
to the government; md that, not merely
as men accept the inevitable only that
they may wait and watch for another op-
portunlGy Tor rebellion and revolution, but
TO become good and loyal citizens of the
United States! This was worth to the
country more than any standing army as
an assurance Of perpetual peace.
Others may forget all this, but l cannot
And when l go, to the spot where Gener-
al Lee sleeps among the hills of his own
beloved Virgins, my thoughts are of any
thing but vengeance. I think of his ex.
traordinary career; of his greatness as a
soldier, but still more, as have convers-
ed with those who knew him most inti-
mately, OF his greatness as man. Nor
can think that it would have been any
desecration of college grounds devoted,
not to war, but to peace, to science, learn
ing, and religion-if the ivy from his
grave had been planted under the elms of
| New Haven.
HENRY M. FIELD,
1 Nn DENI