The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1898-03-26
THE GEORGIA HUMORIST
LEES BIRTHDAY BRINGS ON AREMlNIs-
CENT MOOD.
Incidents of Ills Life Recaiied--
Death-Bed Request OF Confederate
Chieftain that no Grafton be spoken
atDeath.

south. When we old men were school,
boys we used to speak speeches about
Washington and Patrick Henry, and
remember one from Van Writ beginning
ssWho was Blennerhassett?" that was
very popular. 1t lis time this younger
generation were speaking speech
beginning, "Who was Robert E. Lee?"
But if they don't speak it these annual
reminders will cause them to talk it
and think about it. We celebrate the
Fourth of July because it was the
birthday of q nation and the ed day
of February because it was the birth
day of Washington, the father of that
nation-a man whom General Lees ia
Their said: "First in war, first in peace,
and first in the hearts of his country
men," What q wonderful state was
the "Old Dominionl'' What was in
the dir that caused it to produce such
galaxy of great men as Washington
and the Lees and Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, Randolph, Patrick Henry and
others in revolutionary days, and in
later days such great generals as Lee,
Johnson, Longstreet, Jackson, Stuart,
Ashby and Thomas?
There have been many great men.
There have been many more good
men, but the men who have been both
great and good are few. Greatness
and goodness are not twins. Indeed,
they are seldom of any kin. When
Abner was slain David said: "a great
man has this day fallen in Israel" and
SO might be said of David and Solo,
mon and Constantine and Caesar and
Cromwell and Napoleon and many
others who were great, but not alto
gether good. There was some dark
blot upon their name and their fame
that marred its brightness. Lord
Bacon was one of the greatest of men,
but he was far from being good.
War is perhaps the severest test of
great mans goodness. 1t tries his
heart as well as his mind and makes
protest of all his emotions. No man
in the annals of history has stood this
test better than Robert E. Lee. Stone
wall Jackson was no doubt as good
man, but he was not so great, so brave,
so commanding. Albert Sidney John
ston was probably as good and as great
as Lee, but his opportunities to prove
it were suddenly arrested by his
untimely death. Even Washing
ton was not SO great q gen.
eral as Lee, for he had but
little military training, while Lee was
educated carefully in the art of war
was the ranking graduate in class of
~ at West Point, was for three years
in charge of that Institution and had
large and varied experience in the war
with Mexico. In addition to all these
advantages, he inherited talent for
commanding men, for he was the son
of Henry Lightfoot Lee (Lighthorse
Harry, who was Washington 8 favored
friend and military adviser, and whose
bones have honored Georgia soil on
Cumberland island. It is worthy of
mention that our General Lees grand
mother was Lucy Grymes, the first
love of General Washington. She was
known as the 'slowland beauty" It
grieved her to reject his addresses, but
he comforted himself soon after by
marrying the widow GUSTS. This
widow Gusts was the grandmother of
General. Lees wife, Mary Randolph
GUSTS. And so the Lees and the
Washingtons got as close together as
they could.
Ninety-one years ago 166. 900 people
were born on the same day with Gen
eral Lee, but not one Of them stands
out in such bold and beautiful
relief. He gets greater and grander
as the years roll on. More biog-
raphies have been written and pub
lished of him than of any other
man. Nine are already before
the people and another now in press.
His noble life and public service have
commanded the admiration of the OBJ
serving world and all the commends-
ton that the English language could
give to aman has been given to him.
There are no more nouns Of praise-no
more comparatives or superlatiyes left
in our vocabulary. Thus it does not
become me to add anything to these
tributes. It is enough to say that
after all these years since his death in
1870, the climax has been reached
when northern man, the president
of a northern college, has at last vol
UNFAIRLY placed him at the head of the
column and pronounced him peerless
that greatest general of modern
times and the best of men. Further
more, this DR.. Andrews, who was
himself soldier in the northern army,
makes bold to say: "His cause was
not the lost cause SO much as is sus-
pected. The doctrine of states rights.
for which he fought, as now interpreted
by our supreme court, is in exact &C.
cordance with his claims upon this
point
When Robert Emmett, the illustri-
Gus Irish patriot, was condemned to
death for treason, he made memora-
BILE address to his judges and said:
Until Ireland is free, let no man
write my epitaph. And SO when
General Lee was on his last bed and
realized that death was near, he re-
quested that no funeral Grafton should
be pronounced His request was OBJ
served, but since then the southern