The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-01-20
BIRTHDAY Of R. I. LEI.
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A. sAs PresiAeAt 81 wasAanstsA col
leEe, Relatca ~ one Of che New
sssdents 81 the lnstiastieA.

Lee under the auspices OF Pat CleDurn,
camp. Y. Z. VI, WAS an, event VI NOR,
than ordinary importance Tno local Il
a. h. organizations t~ined In tns ceieora
ton. eliminating every vcstige OF section
allan anu making oil IL an occasion ct pa
triotlc endeavor; truly manifestation o
Anection for man VINO was great not les
In peace than IN war; Tho speakers wer,
Rev. Frank Page Of 1t. Paui's Episcs pa
church. Hon. George Clark and Colonel
John u. Winter,
! Dr. Page 10 q brother Of the distin-
guished author, Thomas Nelson Page, an,
was pupil Of General Lee at Washington
and leo university. HIS address con,aln
Interesting rcmtnibcsnces OF school days
while under the guidance Of tho great gen,
eral. DIR. Page said:
We meet tonight TO honor name deal
Civilized world. Al the Confederate sol.
diers are proud to have followed Robert
y. Lee. 10 thcre are younger men, as
those born out OF due time" who COLI
slider themselves fortunate In having been
students At an institution over winch he
presided and whore no was the ruling
spirit. To have seen General Lee day
4 after day for years, and to nave been IN
i huenced by him. must have dsne good to
any young man, and there are many such
IN Texas, and some In Waco, several of
+ whom nre more lifted to address you to-
night than the present speaker. You will
hear the soldier and the statesman. II Is
for me to relate some Impressions OF q
college student.
II General Grant said socn after Arpo-
n,attox Lot us have peace General Eub-
ert ". Lee, by example and prcccpt, gave
tho remaining ycara Of hls life TO peace and
good Will. No word OF bitterness ever es-
calcd his lips. and from April. 1856. to tho
day of hts death no living man did more
Y I'm hnep al No 49,.
! North and South than did Robert u. Los. II
There 10 q story, or at least a tradition,
in virginia, that some time In tho summer
or 1866. at a gathering OF friends. a daugh-
ter of General Leo remarked that many
had offered her father charity, but no one
had offered him work. There happened
to be present u member Of the board Ut
visitors OF Washington college. and when
a little later the board met In Lexington,
Va, he related the incident and suggested
that the presidency OF tho institution be
offered To General Leo. 1t was done. The
PAPERS were fun Of II. Other offers came
to him, hut after mature deliberations he
accepted this one. The States of tho South
Wed with each other In sending him stg-
dents. Texas and Kentucky were not far
behind Virginia. and even from the North
young men came to be under his direction.
General Ice taught no classes, but no
was indeed the college president In eyory
sense Of the word. Robert f. Leo could
not be ngurchead. The moral, intellec-
tMal and financial condition of the whole
institution and knowledge OF every In
mate Of 1t, was his care. and nobly In this,
as In every charge committed to him, did
he fulfill HIS trust
His knowledge of the students and their
surroundings was remarkable. After the
FIRST introduction no could call them by
name; their standing In class, the number
OF absences. the number OF demcrlts during
the month--these he knew and rsmem-
bered. The changing of road, the Inn
proving the grounds. the beautifyIng lhs
appearance of the whole place. the eroc-
tion or enlnrglng Of buildings. ana the
paying Tor all this, were all supervised
personally by him.
Perhaps General Lee Ia recalled more
at prayers In the new chapel
which he built, and beneath which he is
now buried. Tho attendance at prayers
was voluntary with the students, made ao
at letst In great MEASURE by the wisdom
of the president. In IlidwiDter not many
students attended. the mercury often be- !
Ing near zero. The hour was about $50 !
a. m. The figure Of tho general walking
M the aisle or kneeling erect In tho left |
hand corner In u side pow near the plat
'orm ls engraved upon the memory OF
those who attended And IT was known
that, whoever was absent. he WAS always |
there.
Modesty WAS n characteristic Of General |
Leo. as II generally Ia Of great men. In
on any occasion he never pushed /
timself forward. but while doing his duty, /
one could sec that he shrank from. rather
han courted, publicity, a striking contrast
Q the average modern presiding officer or
thief marshal.
When complimentary illusions were
made to him In the college speeches. as
vas generally the case, aud III there were
things said OF the North,
'encral Leo always showed his dlsap-
'rOval.
On one occasion, Just after a celebra-
lon. he said to sons Young speakers:
You young men speak too long; your
compliments To me are In bad taste; your
efcrcnces to the North may do harm and
n1urc our section mud college, and your
10 the ladies amount to moth
ng,. for girls value what II said to them
mount Of fattery."
The length of speeches recalls an incl
ent. One Of the college celebrations was
eng held IN the Presbyterian church in
exipgton, the orator being the gifted Seth
hepard OF Texas, Towards the close OF
y speech, after q beautiful flight Of elo
uenHe: the speaker tudDed TO side table
or glasg Of water; General Lce advanced
tue front to introduce tho next speaker.
Vt the orator OF the day gracefully bowed
} the general ana finished his speech.
Phather the distinguished fudge At WASH
,gton remembers this incident or not, Tor
ears no was talked Of as the student who
oIits'y caused the general TO retire.
some OF the business agents OF the coll
re were nervous young men. The con
rast between these and the general was
cry great, At times one OF these would
de over tho grounds at gailop, ana
'ecunk re general on his walk would