The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-11-22
A VISIT TO ARLINGTON.


Editor Gazette: On September
4, 1899, when the sun was near
the western horizon, entered the
National Cemetery--a place made
sacred by the presence of 10000.
sleeping heroes. Sixteen thou
sand OF the men who slept here
wore the blue, two thousand wore
the gray.
"On Fame's eternal camping ground,
| Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round,
The biyouac Of the dead"
was alone. | did not desire
the presence of friends. wished
only to see the place prepared by
nature for the men Who rest here.
walked about on the hills for
some time viewing the slopes,
rayines, oaks, lawns, flower beds,
and the profusion OF ornamental
trees and shrubs. Nature and the
landscape gardener have per-
formed their duties well.
Having viewed the beautiful
scenery of the cemetery and the
graves of the silent army arrayed
for the last review, | walked leis-
urely to the Arlington House--the
house in which the immortal Rob-
ert E. Lee was married and the
house in which he lived until his
native state, Virginia, called her
lillustrious son to defend her
rights.
This house with its six great
Dorio columns standing on the
brow of hill that slopes gradu-
q ly to the Potomac two hun jred
feet below was built in 1902. /
was glad to enter this house. 1t
is now occupied by the superin-
tendent of the grounds. | enter
ed the room in which Lee was
married and added my name to
the long list of names OF those
who have come from the North,
East, South, and West to honor
the heroes who gave their lives
for what they believed to be a just
cause.
On the walls OF the rooms are
hung drawings OF the cemetery
and framed copies OF orations de-
liyered by President Lincoln and
other Union men.
/ | finished my tour of the house
and went out on the front gallery.
| The view that was here presented
to my eyes has been world famed.
"All was quiet on the Potomac" ("
Its waters, about one-half mile
| distant and two hundred feet be-
| low, flowed gently onward. On
the other side OF the Potomac,
| Washington, the capital of the
most powerful nation on earth,
was presented in full view. In
the far distant north, | beheId the
white tower Of the Soldiers Home
lin the distant south, the high
spires Of that noted city, Alexan-
dria. Hundreds of objects were
presented TO view, but my eyes
never turned long from Washing.
ton 8 monument.
| This monument was erected TO
| commemorate the deeds of Vir-
| ginia 8 noblest son; the house in
which | stood was the home of
| Virginia g honored hero, Robert
| r. Lee. Truly has it been said
! by Hill:
1 "tIe was fee without hate; d
friend without treachery; SOL
| dier without cruelty; a victor
without oppression, and victim
without murmuring.
4 she was public officer with
out vices; private citizen with
out wrong; nejghbor without
reproach; a Christian without hy-
pocrisy, and man without guile.
He was a Caesar without ambi-
ton; Frederick without tyran-
ny; Napoleon without selfishness,
and a George Washington without
his reward. I"
/ Thus the monument OF WASH
Iington and the home OF Lee stand
close together and look each upon
the other. In fact the home OF
Washington, Mt. Vernon, and the
home Of Lee, Arlington, are only
4 a few miles apart. 1t is as it
! should be. Two men, whom not
only this nation but the whole