The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-29
JUST p CHRT.
BY W. E. CHRISTIAN.

lSlllg. II was SUIl, I1t SdNult tHdC hdu
been used by General Robert +. Lee.
This had been worked up into a taunt
by his opponents. Instead Of saying
anything vicious back, Fitz. Lee, as he
City Hall Square, which was Il mass
Of thousands, said in the utmost sim
plcity and good humOr that he saw
no harm in riding on his uncle's saddle,
it was better than riding bare-backed.
The ether Lees, as l said, could not be
forced into the open. They kept car
ry:ng a pride in their movement
as Impressive as it was simple,
seemingly aloof as it WAS unassum-
ed and kindly. The exception was
General Rooney" Lee, who was simply
forced into Congress from the Alex
anGria district. And, too, General
"Kooney'' was present at the convention
at which Fitz. Lee was nominated for
the G~overnorship. He, too, had been
mentioned, but along with the rest Of
the kindred, he took il silent pleasure III
the Jolly picture Of Fitz. Lee tumbling
topsy-turyy among the people. seeing
everything good in ~yerybody. ana
above all never making any breaks.
For this part of IitZ. Lee never seems
to get much mention. He never makes
"breakS.' After what he has done is
looked over. one is surprised to see run
ming through all the ~fandanSo of mlrth
and mimicry and rhetorical c~ndeaVors
a saving thread of common sense and
good fCelin@-g good feeling i'll the sense
Of feeling THAT is true. How else can
one account for the clear way in which
lh l,x. lwl.I- 10 his \IrOln11
friends. the most striking figure at the
head Of the Grant funeral procession
years ago. the same Fitz. Men cheer
him at the North because they see in
him the fire that kindles hcarthstones.
brains count for little i'll men who are
not loved at home, and no man is loved
at home who is not true to his own
people first of all-whcther they be
right or wrong. Right or wrong, my
country-that sums it up, and strange
as it may seem. there is some namcless
active principle in men that makes that
phrase ring cternally beautiful. Robert
+. Lee walked AL night and saw writ
ten upon the brow of dawn, Homo"
and lie went back to Virginia. Thomas
was Il Nirg;nian, and some say that he
was a greater general than Grant, as
Grant might have acknowledged after
l. 11cliilS - tolItltiCt II t"t butti1 VI
Franklin and the engagements in front
Of Hood. but Thomas will ever lack
| even IN the Yankee eye the greatness
that imhercs in the man who puts his
people tirSt-and the devil take the bal
ancc Of whatever may come. Small
ability will be pardoned when the heart
is loyal. big ability will often be over
looked or ignored when even honest
intellectual conviction forces the actor
to take part against those who are of
his flesh and of his bon "WhO loves
his land for his own lands sake. loves
all we'll and We'll of all is loved and
this love lasts forever" S~winburnc, if
| recall rightly, puts it in some such way
as that.
Few people have this peculiar make
up that of being true to the main thing,
while being acceptable. even gracious. to
opposing men and interests. Thus Mr..
GalIingcr and Mr.. Proctor are saying
in the Senate all sorts of good things
about Fitz Lee and President Mckinley
found him quite necessary i'll his bust
ness and kept him i'll Cuba. In the
midst of all the hurly-burly the only gay
note heard comes now and then in Il
merry outbulet from Eitz Lee. and il
must bc noted that the merrineSs has
underneath it Il deep ~grOund-Swell of So
rious manhood and .Americanism, and
above all. as | said before. there are no
"breakS.' For example. the other day
while the press dispatches were willOWy
with walls. here comes Il spanking.
sparkling utterance from Fitz who in the
midst of covert dangers jocularly re-
marks that when he goes "out of Ha-
vana. there will be II brass band at the
head of the procession and. again, he
does not propose leaving Havana until
somebody pulls Il feather out Of the
tail of the american eagle He is sim
ply riding the wave like a duck as buoy
antly as he rose from the trough of the
battle to it's crest ut Fredericksburg.
And what Of it all? People have just
begun to talk about this man: he is bub-
bling UP as the most refreshing express
sion of America during the trying time.
OF course NirginianS see with some pres
cicncc the greater things awaiting their
son who is now bringing pride to his
name. and State and country. but others
have not quite formulated any future
programme for Fitz Lee. Is he Il silver
man? Well it IS not on record that he
is not. some people have limited that
he was a gold-bug, but it is to be doubt
ed. He was absent from Virginia dur
ing tho campaign which left O,Fcrrall
the victim. Daniel was the other actor
i'll the contest. and the issue was
wrought out independently of Lee: he
was not needed. and it was enough to
say that he was attending to his bust
ness in Cula. People have seen no doubt
the unjust punishment visited upon the
man in giving preference for the United
States Senate to Il corporation lawyer In
no wise fitted for the duties Of such Il
body in SuIi. Of q local 1hj1itV that Is
certain and wcll-recognized. 1t seems
about as certain as anything can be that
Fitz Lee will come back to Virginia with
a prestige III every way grateful to his
people, and that he will take his place
in the Senate in due season. Then the
national convention will be gathering,
and in the midst OF the hub-bub, there
| are apt to be heard huzzahs for Fitz
Lee. 1t means many things, the putting
Of Lee on the ticket with Bryan. ii
means that the south is genuinely and
H.